Dr Joshua Helman, an emergency medicine physician based in Florida, said taking three kinds of prescription and over-the-counter drugs in high doses for prolonged periods may lead to brain damage associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Allergy medications like Benadryl and Zyrtec, for example, may block pathways in the brain that control memory and learning if taken every day.
Additionally, taking sedative drugs benzodiazepines like Valium and Xanax for years at a time has been shown to shrink the brain’s memory centers, which could lead to dementia.
Some research also suggests cholesterol-lowering statins, taken by 92 million Americans, may damage the parts of the brain where Alzheimer’s strikes first in its earliest stages after years of use.
However, Dr Helman stresses talking to your doctor first before stopping the use of prescription medications, as this could lead to debilitating withdrawal symptoms like stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills.
Coming off statins suddenly has also caused cholesterol to skyrocket, increasing the risk of suffering a heart attack.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, a group of neurological disorders that impact memory, language, problem-solving, and other cognitive abilities.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 6.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease in 2023. Dr Helman’s warning comes as that number is expected to double by 2060.
Speaking in a TikTok video with neuroscientist Robert Love, Dr Helman pointed to antihistamines as one type of drug that could increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Available over-the-counter or with a prescription, the most popular examples include Benadryl, Zyrtec, Claritin, and Clarinex.
Antihistamines block the effects of histamine, a chemical released by the body during an allergic reaction.
However, antihistamines like Benadryl have also been shown to block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which Dr Helman notes is ‘very important for nerve transmission.’
Acetylcholine carries messages from the brain to the body through nerve cells, controlling functions like memory.
Drugs like Benadryl are considered anticholinergics.
Patients with Alzheimer’s disease have been shown to have low acetylcholine in their brains.
One 2016 study of more than 450 adults found that patients taking anticholinergics had greater levels of brain atrophy or wasting than those not on them, a sign of dementia.
Dr Helman said: ‘I’m not saying never take Benadryl, but what I am saying is you don’t want to be taking these types of medications every night.
‘If you’re taking something like Benadryl every night, you’re actually slowly leading to brain damage.’
Dr Helman also pointed to benzodiazepines, nicknamed ‘benzos’ or ‘downers.’
These include prescription drugs Valium, Xanax, Ativan, and Klonopin.
Benzodiazepines act as sedatives, slowing down activity in the brain and nervous system by activating the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
A study published last year of more than 5,000 older adults suggested the use of benzodiazepines was associated with shrinking of the brain’s memory centers, the hippocampus and the amygdala.
While these areas of the brain naturally shrink with age, the process appeared to occur faster in patients on benzodiazepines.
This can cause symptoms of dementia like memory loss.
The study authors wrote: ‘It is important to carefully consider the necessity of prolonged benzodiazepine use in light of potential detrimental effects on brain health.’
Another study from researchers in France and Canada found that people who had taken a benzodiazepine for three to six months had a 32 percent increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s compared to those who had never taken one.
Those on one of these drugs for more than six months were at an 84 percent increased risk.
Chronic benzodiazepine use has also been shown to reduce the brain’s neuroplasticity, or its ability to change or adapt over time.
This could lead to the brain’s neurons degrading over time, leading to Alzheimer’s.
Dr Helman also warned against the prolonged use of statins, a drug taken by 92 million Americans to lower cholesterol.
Statins work by inhibiting an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase which produces cholesterol.
While the science on statins and Alzheimer’s disease has been mixed, several recent reports show the drugs could lead to cognitive issues.
One 2021 study found patients with mild cognitive impairment—a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease—were more than twice as likely to develop dementia from taking statins like lipohilic statins like Lipitor than those not on these medications.
The researchers said this could be because scans showed these patients had declines in the posterior cingulate cortex, the region of the brain most affected by early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
However, other studies have suggested statins may protect against Alzheimer’s disease, so research is still mixed.
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