Common drugs that could double stroke death risk

COMMON medications taken by as many as a third of pensioners could almost double the chances of dying from a stroke.

Both prescribed medicines and ones available over the counter were found to raise the risk of having a stroke.

Among commonly prescribed drugs were the painkiller codeine, antidepressants such as Valium, and beta-blockers. Those that can be bought in chemists included the hayfever remedy Piriton and the diarrhoea treatment Imodium.

A study led by the University of Aberdeen found people with a high intake of these ‘anticholinergic’ drugs – which could be as few as two or three different ones – are 59 per cent more likely to suffer a stroke and have an 86 per cent higher chance of dying from stroke.

Anticholinergic drugs have nothing in common except their effect on the body’s cholinergic system, which regulates the heart and other bodily systems like the gut. Already believed to cause memory loss and falls, it is now thought they may cause blood clots which can lead to a stroke.

Dr David Gamble, who led the study of nearly 22,000 people, said: ‘This is important because, worldwide, someone has a stroke every two seconds.

‘A lot of these medicines have a pivotal role in the treatment of disease and we would not want people to become afraid of taking them, but no medication is a magic bullet and they have risks as well as benefits.

These findings will allow people, as well as their doctors, to think carefully about medications, which could lead to a lower number of strokes.’

The researchers looked at generic drugs available on the NHS, including the drugs which are branded and sold as Valium, Imodium and Piriton.

Up to 37 per cent of people aged 65 and over take anticholinergic drugs, which are more risky in daily doses than taken sporadically. Codeine, Imodium and atenolol, a beta blocker taken for angina, are among those with weaker side effects. The painkiller pethidine is stronger, along with some anti-histamines used to treat allergies like hayfever.

The strongest, categorised as ‘class three’ by the academics, include amitriptyline, often used for nerve pain, and oxybutynin, for bladder conditions. Using these ratings, the researchers categorised people with the highest chance of anticholinergic effects, whose chance of a stroke was 59 per cent higher than people who took none of the drugs.

It is thought the medications can make the heart beat faster or erratically, trapping blood within the heart which, if it clots and reaches the brain, causes a stroke. More than 1.2million people in Britain have had a stroke, and more than 100,000 occur every year.

Professor Phyo Myint, senior author of the study, said it was the first of its kind, adding that as stroke is potentially preventable, the possible identification of a new modifiable risk factor was significant.

The study is published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. A total of 21,722 people aged 39 to 79 were studied.

‘A stroke every two seconds’