Common Muscle Relaxant Could Pose Mental Dangers for Seniors

A study of about 16,000 older Canadians with chronic kidney disease in the Journal of the American Medical Association warns the commonly prescribed muscle relaxant baclofen can leave seniors with kidney trouble so disoriented that they wind up hospitalized, reports United Press International . "It can present with acute stroke-like symptoms, even though it's not a stroke," noted Western University Professor Amit Garg. "It can present with dementia-like symptoms." Nearly one in 25 people with low kidney function prescribed high doses of baclofen were hospitalized for severe confusion, while only one in 500 not prescribed the drug were hospitalized for confusion. Subjects were at the greatest risk of hospitalization for confusion if their kidney function was severely impaired and they had been prescribed more than 20 milligrams (mg) of baclofen daily. However, even those with kidney function as high as 60 percent had a higher risk of confusion when prescribed high doses of baclofen, and about one in five seniors live with kidney function of less than 60 percent. Moreover, persons prescribed baclofen at 20 mg/day or higher had almost 20 times the relative risk of being hospitalized for an altered mental state, versus those not taking the drug in doses lower than 20 mg/day having a nearly sixfold increase in risk of hospitalization.