Anticholinergic Medicines

Anticholinergic medicines keep nerve impulses from contracting smooth muscle. Smooth muscle is part of the digestive tract, urinary tract, and lungs.

Smooth muscle cannot be controlled consciously (involuntary). But anticholinergics can, for example, relax the airways in the lungs to makes breathing easier.

Anticholinergics are used to treat many health problems, including:

Credits

By: Healthwise StaffLast Revised: July 17, 2012
Medical Review: E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Avery L. Seifert, MD - Urology

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