Pharmaceutical companies get stunned: Drugs against colds and heartburn reduce brain and slow down thinking

If you happen to forget things more often than usual, or sometimes you feel as your mind is not as sharp as it used to be, you might need to look at your medicine cabinet

Drugs commonly used in the treatment of a number of medical conditions such as insomnia, allergy or incontinence negatively affect the brain, causing long-term cognitive impairment in older Afroamericans, Naturalnews writes.

Drugs commonly used in the treatment of a range of medical conditions such as insomnia, allergy or incontinence negatively affect the brain causing long-term cognitive impairment in older African Americans.

These drugs, called anticholinergics, block acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter of the nervous system and as such form part of widely represented medical therapies. They are sold in pharmacies under various protected names such as Benadryl, Dramamine, Excedrin PM, Nytol, Sominex, Tylenol PM and Unice.

Other anticholinergics such as Paxil, Detrol, Demerol and Elavil are available exclusively on prescription. Elderly adults most often use anticholinergic drugs as first aid for a better sleep and to relieve problems with bladder permeability.

The elderly are specifically advised to avoid some commonly used drugs, because of their relationship and thinking problems and memory loss.

A study by the Indiana University School of Medicine, published in the journal JAMA Neurology, used brain scanning to examine the effects of some common drugs on brain metabolism and brain atrophy in 451 participants.

In this group, 60 people took one or more drugs with moderate or high anticholinergic activity. In order to arrive at their conclusions, the researchers used PETs to measure brain metabolism, MR brain structure scanning, and a series of cognitive tests and memory tests.

They found that those patients who took anticholinergics showed poorer test results than elderly patients who did not take this type of drug.

Some of the areas where the performance decline is observed are verbal reasoning, short-term memory, and problem solving.

Perhaps even more alarmingly, MRIs scan showed that those who drank medications had a lower volume of the brain and larger chamber (the onset of Alzheimer's)

In addition, they had lower levels of glucose metabolism in their brains, especially in the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain responsible for memory, and are usually affected in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

The indicated brain degradation, even after cessation of treatment
Researcher Shannon Risacher said: "These results give us a much better understanding of how this class of drugs can affect the brain in ways that could increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia."

"Given all the evidence, doctors may want to consider alternative anticholinergic drugs if they exist while working with their elderly patients."

Some of the drugs that reduce the brain and cause cognitive impairment are medications for:
allergy,
pollen fever,
cold,
flu, depression,
gout,
diarrhea,
asthma
heartburn
These effects were even recorded for a month and after the treatment was completed. Previous studies have linked these drugs with an increased risk of dementia and an increased likelihood of falling (equilibrium).

The 2013 study found that these drugs can lead to cognitive problems after only 60 days of use.

The second study found a link between anticholinergic toxicity and imprisonment, dry mouth, delirium, visual impairment and confusion, with the exception of severe cognitive decline.

To make things worse is the fact that many older people actually take more than one drug together on a regular basis. For example, they can take a drug against allergy and a cure for heartburn at the same time.

• 1 May, 2018
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