Cognitive dysfunction associated with naproxen and ibuprofen in the elderly

✍ Scribed by James S. Goodwin; Dr. Martha Regan

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1982
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 235 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780250817

✦ Synopsis

Many authors have noted that elderly individuals are more "sensitive" to certain medications; in some cases this increased sensitivity is actually a function of increased tissue levels of drugs due to altered metabolism and clearing of the drug (1,2). In other cases it appears that blood levels of drugs associated with few toxicities in young patients may result in increased toxicities in the elderly.

One of the most common yet least well-recognized toxicities of all medications in the elderly is cognitive dysfunction, i.e., decreased attention span, loss of short-term memory, and difficulty with calculations. This association has led some authorities to recommend cessation of all medications as the first step in the approach to the cognitively impaired elderly patient.

In this report we wish to relate our experience with either cognitive impairment or personality change in elderly patients associated with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID). Although central nervous system dysfunction has long been recognized as a major manifestation of salicylate toxicity (3,4) and later of indomethacin toxicity (9, the newer nonsteroi-From the