Saturday, September 10, 2016

MY BRAIN IS SHRINKING?

Golly, gee, do over the counter medications shrink the brain?

A big fat MAYBE is brewing. We are now being told that Tylenol, Advil, Benadryl, and Claritin can reduce "brain volume and lead to poorer cognitive functions."
According to many current, well-established medical sources, these drugs block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain. They are known as "anticholinerics."  Researchers from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and Indiana University Memory and Aging Study said that their findings reveal how this class of drugs can raise the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.

They've analyzed data of 500 people, age 70 to 75, who have normal brains. Results show that peoples who took at least one anticholinergic medication performed poorer in the short memory test compared to those who did not take over-the-counter cold medicine.

You and I have heard that list of side effects -- dry mouth, blurred vision, constipation, drowsiness, hallucinations, difficulty urinating, confusion, delirium, etc. They never say "any medicine can cause these symptoms," they just REPEAT IT!!!

Yii -- I've used them -- all of the antihistamines named above, so now my shrunken brain is planning what to do tonight about getting to sleep tonight without taking any of those pills.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Em, 500 people is not much of a sample but over the counter drugs often have the same ingredients which means you are getting too much of a good thing, so to speak. Tylenol is in cold med, and some other over the counter drugs too and you can over dose on it. Talk to your pharmacist they'll give you the most up to date information on interactions of any medications or over the counter or health remedies you are taking. I doubt your brain is shrinking, you're one sharp cookie but it's good to remind people that too much of anything isn't a good thing everything must be kept in balance, I keep reminding myself about this too. Love and hugs, Heather XXXXOOO