Medical uses
Anticholinergic drugs are used to treat a variety of conditions:

Dizziness (including vertigo and motion sickness-related symptoms)
Extrapyramidal symptoms, a potential side-effect of antipsychotic medications
Gastrointestinal disorders (e.g., peptic ulcers, diarrhea, pylorospasm, diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, nausea, and vomiting)
Genitourinary disorders (e.g., cystitis, urethritis, and prostatitis)
Insomnia, although usually only on a short-term basis
Respiratory disorders (e.g., asthma, chronic bronchitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD])
Sinus bradycardia due to a hypersensitive vagus nerve
Organophosphate based nerve agent poisoning, such as VX, sarin, tabun, and soman (atropine is favoured in conjunction with an oxime, usually pralidoxime)Anticholinergics generally have antisialagogue effects (decreasing saliva production), and most produce some level of sedation, both being advantageous in surgical procedures.Until the beginning of the 20th century anticholinergic drugs were widely used to treat psychiatric disorders. Physiological effects
Delirium (often with hallucinations and delusions indistinguishable from reality)
Ocular symptoms (from eye drops): mydriasis, pupil dilation, and acute angle-closure glaucoma in those with shallow anterior chamber
Anhidrosis, dry mouth, dry skin
Fever
Constipation
Tachycardia
Urinary retention
Cutaneous vasodilationClinically the most significant feature is delirium, particularly in the elderly, who are most likely to be affected by the toxidrome. Side effects
Long-term use may increase the risk of both cognitive and physical decline. It is unclear whether they affect the risk of death generally. However, in older adults they do appear to increase the risk of death.Possible effects of anticholinergics include:

Possible effects in the central nervous system resemble those associated with delirium, and may include:

Older patients are at a higher risk of experiencing CNS side effects.
See also
2007 tuberculosis scare
Drug resistance
MRSA
Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE)
Totally drug-resistant tuberculosis (TDR-TB)
Medicines Patent Pool

References
NotesFarmer, Paul (1999). Infections and inequalities : the modern plagues. Berkeley, California, United States: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-22913-6. Farmer, Paul (2005). Pathologies of Power: health, human rights, and the new war on the poor. Berkeley, California, United States: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-93147-3. Garrett, Laurie (1994). The coming plague : newly emerging diseases in a world out of balance. New York, New York, United States: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-12646-9. Garrett, Laurie (2000). Betrayal of trust: the collapse of global public health. New York, New York, United States: Hyperion Books. ISBN 978-0-7868-6522-2. External links

Video: Drug-Resistant TB in Russia 24 July 2007, Woodrow Wilson Center event featuring Salmaan Keshavjee and Murray Feshbach
TB Drug Resistance Mutation Database
MDR-TB : a story of Hope, Struggle & Triumph
MDR-TB (DOTS Plus) protocol followed under RNTCP in India (PDF)
"The Strange, Isolated Life of a Tuberculosis Patient in the 21st Century", Buzzfeed