(Antimuscarinic) Drugs?
© July - August 2018 How well do you know your anticholinergic (antimuscarinic) drugs? nticholinergic drugs, prescribed for a variety of clini- Acal conditions, are amongst the most frequently used prescription drugs in BC (Table 1). Also referred to as “an- timuscarinics,” such drugs specifically block muscarinic receptors for acetylcholine (ACh).1 Muscarinic ACh recep- tors are important in the parasympathetic nervous system that governs heart rate, exocrine glands, smooth muscles, clude drugs whose active metabolites are potent- as well as brain function. In contrast, nicotinic ACh recep- ly antimuscarinic,5 or which often cause typical tors stimulate contraction of striated muscles. This Letter is AC adverse effects such as dry mouth or urinary intended to remind clinicians of commonly used drugs that retention.6 People taking antihistamines, antide- have anticholinergic (AC), or technically, antimuscarinic pressants, antipsychotics, opioids, antimuscarinic properties, and of their potential adverse effects. inhalers, or many other drugs need to know that Beneficial and harmful effects of anticholinergic drugs have blockade of ACh receptors can cause bothersome been known for centuries. In Homer’s Odyssey, the nymph or even dangerous adverse effects (Table 3). pharmacologist Circe utilized central effects of atropinics Subtle and not-so-subtle toxicity in the common plant jimson weed (Datura stramonium) to cause delusions in the crew of Odysseus. Believing they Students often learn the adverse effects of anticho- had been turned into pigs, they could be herded.2 linergics from a mnemonic, e.g.: “Blind as a bat, Sometimes a drug is recommended specifically for its an- mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as a hare, dry as ticholinergic potency.
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