Medications - Causes Of Memory Impairment: Improving Memory Understanding Age Related Memory Loss
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Medications
Many prescription and over-the-counter medicines can impair memory (see "Medications and memory loss"). Antihistamines and tranquilizers cause drowsiness or interfere in other ways with the ability to maintain attention. Anticholinergic agents, such as those used to treat bladder dysfunction, affect the activity of certain neurotransmitters in the brain that are crucial to memory. The tricyclic class of antidepressants also has potent anticholinergic side effects that can impair memory and other elements of cognitive function. Other medicines that can cause memory loss include insulin for diabetes, narcotic painkillers such as meperidine (Demerol), beta blockers for hypertension, cimetidine (Tagamet) for ulcers, amantadine (Symmetrel) for Parkinson's disease, sleeping pills, benzodiazepines for anxiety, eye drops for glaucoma, and chemotherapy for cancer.
As people age, they are more likely to experience side effects from medications, for two reasons. First, older people tend to take more medications because they generally have more health problems. The more medications people take, the greater the chance of an adverse reaction to a single drug or interactions among drugs. Second, because metabolism slows down with age, medications linger longer in the body.
If you are experiencing memory problems and suspect that one or more of your medications is responsible, make a list of all your medications and talk with your doctor. Don't stop taking a medicine until you have consulted your doctor. If you and your doctor pinpoint a medication that may be causing your memory problems, you may be able to stop taking the drug and see whether your memory improves. It may take up to several weeks for any improvement to occur. Your doctor may be able to replace a troublesome medication with a different drug that does not interfere with your memory or cognitive abilities.
Medications and memory lossCommon prescription drugs in the following categories may cause memory loss as a side effect.
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| Last updated: | January 23, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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