Which AEDs are anticholinergic?

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Dignan

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Hi all, I'm not trying to be an alarmist, as I know AEDs have all sorts of effects: good and bad, short and long term, etc.

But, I just saw an article on the long term effect of anticholinergic drugs and their relationship to 50% greater chance of dementia in older patients. AEDs were mentioned, and I've been looking but not seen a definitive list of which AEDs are anticholinergic.

Does any one know? Are they all anticholinergic?

I've seen several version of the article, but one is here: https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/24/health/dementia-risk-drug-study/index.html
 
There are so many drugs that are anti-cholinergic, it would be difficult to avoid them altogether. :)

I asked my neurologist about dementia risks as regards epilepsy meds, and he said that while medication (specifically over-medication) can play a role, by far the biggest factors are genetics and cardiovascular health. Individual factors like head injuries, co-occurring health issues, and degree of seizure control can also play a role.
 
With a little more digging:

Add Trileptal (oxcarbazepine) to the list of anti-cholinergic AEDs with moderate AC activity.

Benzodiazepines -- diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), and the other "-pams" --
are also anti-cholinergic, but they are on the low end of the scale when taken for acute use (as in epilepsy).

Phenytoin (Dilantin) has very, very low anti-cholinergic activity.
 
Thanks Nak. I looked and didn't find much either. Made me wonder why they singled out AEDs. I've seen that in several articles on AC activity.

I wonder about the newer drugs like Lamictal, Keppra, Vimpat, or Brivact, but I haven't been able to find much on them.
 
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