Medications Can Impair Memory By Gretchen Heuring | 07.25.2013

 

According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there are both prescription drugs and over the counter medications that can impair memory. The FDA article "Coping With Memory Loss" reports:

 

"Examples of medications that can interfere with memory include over-the-counter and prescription sleeping pills, over-the-counter antihistamines, anti-anxiety medications, antidepressants, ...and pain medicines used after surgery."

 

A study conducted by the Indiana School of Medicine and published in the July 13, 2010 issue of "Neurology" reports that over one hundred drugs may cause memory loss or confusion. Some persons are more susceptible than others but the reasons are unknown at present.

 

Sleeping Pills and Memory Loss

Elderly people have more trouble sleeping than younger folks. Some causes include waking to urinate, pain due to arthritis or other inflammations and lack of exercise. Sleeping pills can help, but they have a dark side. They can cause memory loss.

 

Daniel Kripke, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD School of

Medicine talks about how the new class of "improved" sleeping

pills can be harmful to older adults.

 

 

Antihistamines and Memory Loss

The Mayo Clinic offers an article on antihistamines and their side effects on people who take them. This article describes the effects on older people as follows:

 

"Confusion or memory loss, difficult and painful urination, dizziness, drowsiness, dryness of mouth, or convulsions (seizures) may be more likely to occur in the elderly, who are usually more sensitive than younger adults to the effects of this medicine. Also, nightmares or unusual excitement, nervousness, restlessness, or irritability may be more likely to occur in elderly patients."

 

Cholesterol Meds and Memory Loss

Duane Graveline, a family physician, former astronaut, and former US Air Force flight surgeon writes about his experiences with Lipitor and memory loss. He says: "During that terrible interval, when my entire adult life had been eradicated, I had no awareness of my marriage or my four children; my medical school days or my ten adventure-filled years as a USAF flight surgeon; my selection as a NASA scientist-astronaut or my post-retirement decade as a writer of medical fiction."