Recovering from brain injuries may take longer due to drugs

California patients who suffered a brain injury may be interested to learn that prescribed drugs used to treat common conditions may delay their recovery. Anticholinergics, which are often given to patients recovering from brain injuries for pain and urinary incontinence, can actually impact the patient’s recovery times.

Researchers from the University of East Anglia in the UK studied 52 patients who were recovering from a brain or spinal cord injury. They ultimately discovered that the length of stay was on average longer for patients who were given higher doses of anticholinergic drugs than those who were given lower doses. However, the researchers noted that the study did not show that the anticholinergic drugs were a direct cause of the longer recovery times; the study did show, however, that there was a link between the two.

A senior author who teaches at the Norwich Medical School at UAE stated that further studies would need to be conducted to determine what the long-term effects the medications had on the patients’ recovery. The medications often have side effects that include dizziness and other cognitive impairments that could keep patients from being able to be active in their recovery and rehabilitation.

When a person suffers a brain injury in an accident that was caused by another person, they face a long and hard recovery. In some cases, the injured person may be eligible to file a personal injury claim against the person who was responsible for causing the accident. In the lawsuit, the injured person can potentially seek compensation for the cost of their medical treatment and for the cost of rehabilitation. If the injury was life-changing, they may even have the ability to seek punitive damages, future medical costs and compensation for mental anguish.