Prescribing certain anticholinergic medications to middle-aged or older patients may increase their risk of developing dementia, researchers have warned.

Drawing on general practice data, UK researchers investigated the association between exposure to 56 different anticholinergics and dementia development among nearly 59,000 cases and 225,500 controls.

Overall, dementia risk increased by up to 50% with ­anticholinergic exposure compared with no exposure.

But the association was stronger in patients who were aged younger than 80, with an 80% increased risk of diagnosis compared with 35% increased risk for patients older than 80.