Anticholinergics are drugs that act as bronchodilators of the bronchi or large airways. They are designed to prevent the bronchi from constricting to allow freer breathing. Anticholinergics may be used to treat conditions such as asthma, chronic...
Vertigo may be caused by a number of medical conditions that affect the inner ear, including Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), Meniere's disease and neurological damage resulting in dizziness, particularly in elderly people. The...
The urinary system consists of two kidneys, two ureters, a bladder and a urethra. The ureters connect the kidneys to the bladder, and the urethra connects the bladder to outside the body. A dysfunction in the system may cause urinary retention....
Psychotic depression, otherwise known as major depression with psychotic features, is one of the most severe forms of depression. Medline Plus, a service of U.S. National Library of Medicine, indicates that psychosis consists of a lowered...
Triavil is a combination of amitriptyline, an older generation antidepressant, and perphenazine, an antipsychotic medication. It's used to treat patients who have a combination of depression and psychosis, including patients with schizophrenia who...
Benadryl--known generically as diphenhydramine--is an antihistamine with anticholinergic effects, according to the manufacturer, Pharmaceutical Associates, Inc. Benadryl has drying and sedating effects, and is used to treat symptoms of allergies...
Phenergan, a brand of the drug, promethazine is an antihistamine used to treat several conditions such as nausea, vomiting, motion sickness, allergic reactions, allergy symptoms and itchy skin rashes. It is also used to sedate patients before...
Sweating is a natural function of the body whose primary activity is to control the body's temperature through evaporative cooling. Sweating is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, specifically the sympathetic nervous system, which...
According to Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist Michael Picco, spastic colon is another name for what doctors call irritable bowel syndrome. The term "spastic colon" arose from motility studies that showed that the colons of people with irritable...
Sweating is a natural process that occurs when the body attempts to cool itself. However, some people experience excessive sweating, also known as hyperhidrosis. Although hyperhidrosis can occur anywhere on the body, it most commonly occurs on the...
The bladder is a muscle, and in order to hold urine, the muscles need to be relaxed. In individuals with no bladder problems, the bladder remains relaxed until urination, when it contracts. When the bladder contracts randomly and not only during...
In respiratory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, airways constrict and cause difficulty breathing. When the muscles around the airways constrict, it is called a bronchospasm, and makes breathing difficult....
Cogentin (benztropine) is an anticholinergic medication used to therapeutically manage parkinsonism as an adjunct treatment. It also helps control unintended muscular movements (extrapyramidal disorders) that arise as a side effect of...
Antihistamines can be valuable medicines for hives and other allergic reactions. They are sold over the counter and by prescription to fight seasonal allergies, colds and motion sickness, and as sleep aids. There are two types of antihistamines:...
Stress incontinence, involuntary loss of urine during episodes of sudden increase in intra-abdominal pressure such as coughing, sneezing, bending or laughing, worsens with age and childbearing. As many as 30 percent of elderly women and 15 percent...
The bladder is a hollow organ that can comfortably hold about two cups of urine for approximately two to five hours, according to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Once the bladder fills to a comfortable limit,...
Urinary incontinence refers to the loss of bladder control. The causes of urinary incontinence include pelvic muscles being too weak, called stress incontinence; pelvic muscles being too active, called urge incontinence; or the blockage of normal...
Patients with dry eye syndrome do not have enough lubrication in the eye--either because there are insufficient tears present or because the tears that are present don't work well enough. Symptoms include irritation, tearing or a feeling of grit...
Urge incontinence is the overwhelming need to void followed by involuntary loss of urine. According to the Cleveland Clinic, 20 million people suffer with urinary incontinence. Ten percent of that group has bowel incontinence also. Incontinence is...
Johns Hopkins Medicine defines Parkinson's disease as a chronic brain disorder in which the brain's nerve cells slow down the production of the chemical dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter responsible for movement and balance. Hence, a...
Finding effective remedies for sweaty hands can be as simple as purchasing an over-the-counter antiperspirant, or as complicated as undergoing a surgical procedure. Sweating is a natural function the body performs to cool itself. However, in some...
Trihexyphenidyl, or artane, is an anticholinergic medication that blocks the muscarinic sub-type of cholinergic receptors. It's used in the treatment of Parkinsonian symptoms such as tremor and rigidity, which can occur in Parkinson's disease and...
Having a bladder that you cannot control can be quite aggravating. Maybe you've taken some steps to help: stopped drinking coffee, alcohol and liquids late into the evening. Howeverl, bladder control or bedwetting is still a problem. An overactive...
Hyoscyamine is a prescription medication used to alleviate muscle spasms or cramps that occur along the bladder or intestinal tract. As an anticholinergic agent, hyoscyamine works by reducing the brain levels of a chemical called acetylcholine,...
Advil PM (diphenhydramine ibuprofen) helps give relief for the kinds of minor aches and pains that prevent sleep. Because of its sleep-inducing qualities as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), it may be taken simply as a sleep aid...
Secondary parkinsonism results from a medication or illness that causes a drop in the amount of the neurotransmitter dopamine, producing symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease, such as tremors and shuffling movements. The Parkinson's Disease...
Parkinson's disease is a neurological disease that gets progressively worse with time. It is characterized by problems with neurons in the brain that are responsible for release of a chemical known as dopamine. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease...
It's perfectly normal to sweat, especially under the arms, during periods of exercise, nerve-wracking situations and physical exertion. Individuals with overly active sweat glands may have a medical condition known as hyperhidrosis, according to...
A hyperactive bladder, also called an overactive bladder, is a bladder control condition that involves sudden and intense urinary urge often with leakage of urine, known as urge incontinence. The Consumer Reports Health guide on the "Best Buy...
