63% Of People With Schizophrenia Take Medications Raising Risk Of Cognitive Impairment
About 63% of people with schizophrenia take medications with anticholinergic properties associated with cognitive impairment. Anticholinergics are substances that block the action of the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine at synapses in the central and peripheral nervous system. This population’s anticholinergic cognitive burden (ACB) score averaged 3.0. At that score, their risk of developing dementia is 50% higher than people not taking anticholinergic medications. About 25% of people with schizophrenia who participated in a study had ACB scores of 6.0 or higher.
The …