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April 19th, 2016 
Awake Goy
Susanne Posel ,Chief Editor Occupy Corporatism | Media Spokesperson, HEALTH MAX Brands
Alzheimer’s disease is a serious problem with many factors involved, but common over-the-counter (OTC) medication, including certain cold medicines, could be causing cognitive impairment in older adults.
Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) have discovered that OTC medicines such as Benadryl, Tylenol PM and Advil PM; as well as certain antidepressants, drugs for motion sickness and bladder control are blocking neurotransmitters called acetylcholine in the human brain.
By studying data from the brains of 451 patients ages 70 to 75, and looking for skills such as memory, the team examined MRI scans and concluded that those patients who took the OTC and prescribed anticholinergic medicines were displaying poorer cognition, had obviously lower brain volumes and less glucose metabolism in the whole brain and the temporal lobe.
In fact, 60 of those studied were taking “at least one medication with medium or high anticholinergic activity”, such as Dimetapp, Dramamine, Paxil, Unisom and VESIcare, which turned out to be the catalyst for cognitive decline.
But one of the most disturbing findings of this study was that these medicines were causing the patient’s brains to reduce in size.
Shannon Risacher, assistant professor of radiology and imaging sciences for IUSM commented : “These findings provide us with a much better understanding of how this class of drugs may act upon the brain in ways that might raise the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. These findings might give us clues to the biological basis for the cognitive problems associated with anticholinergic drugs, but additional studies are needed if we are to truly understand the mechanisms involved.”
Taking anticholinergic drugs for sleeping aids or hypertension can have severely negative impacts, but the medical community has known about this for at least a decade.
For example, 3 years ago, the Indiana University Center for Aging Research discovered that anticholinergic effects can cause cognitive problems within 60 days of taking the drug. For medicines with a weaker anticholinergic effect, the impairment can take up to 90 days to set in.
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