|
|
|
The Pharmacist's Forum>
"Please post all your medication questions here"
Confusion over cholinergics
brooksie
364 posts
Jan 31, 2010
6:54 PM
|
Mark, I am hoping that you will shed some light on the practice of neuros prescribing a cholinergic drug like Aricept when the patient is on an anticholinergic. They seem to cancel each other out and logically it makes no sense to prescribe Artane to help with PD symptoms and then Aricept to ward off dementia (and from what little I have learned the cognitive stuff going on in our brains is different than Alzheimer's). I know that the anticholinergics have been linked to cognitive decline, so please don't tell me that this is the neurologist's way of trying to balance things out again through chemicals! Also, a person with PD not taking an anticholinergic already has more acetylcholine than required due to dopamine loss, so how can prescribing something that promotes the growth of more a-choline help? Wouldn't it then exacerbate our symptoms? I know this is oversimplifying but then so is our current cadre of pharma options doing the same by tossing dopamine into a very complex, delicate mix of chemicals. Thanks, Laura
|
ThePharmacist
514 posts
Feb 07, 2010
9:30 PM
|
what you are saying makes sense. I will try to as simple as I can. In alzheimers patients, cholinergic meds are used because the primary symptom is memory loss/dementia. In pd patients, loss of memory/dementia is a secondary symptom that has characteristics similar to alzheimers, but mechanically may not be exactly the same. As in both cases, the cholinergic may improve the symptoms, bit will never allow the patient to fully recover.
Anticholinergics are used for primary symptoms, along with many other meds, and it is believed that these can help the cognitive process maintain to an extent. When the dementia/memory issue appears, cholinergic are used to limit any further progression. Kind of like frosting on a cake.Hope this clears it up a little. Best of health, Mark
|
|
|
