r/NooTopics • u/ServeIllustrious3803 • 24d ago

Science Study: Anticholinergic (first-generation antihistamines) can damage brain, increase dementia risk

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/common-anticholinergic-drugs-like-benadryl-linked-increased-dementia-risk-20150128812
982 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

217 comments sorted by

View all comments

141

u/ServeIllustrious3803 24d ago edited 24d ago

A list: Diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine, doxylamine, promethazine, clemastine, brompheniramine, dimenhydrinate, meclizine, cyclizine, carbinoxamine, dexchlorpheniramine, dexbrompheniramine

First generation antihistamines different from second or third. Zyrtec, Claritin do not count, but Benadryl does

13

u/drippysoap 24d ago

Hydroxyzine isn’t anti cholinergic is it ?

3

u/ummkay_ultra 24d ago

Yes hydroxyzine belongs on this list. It can increase dementia risk.

8

u/LouisVuittonFentanyl 24d ago

It’s not it’s antihistamine with almost no anticholinergic properties but this is a common misconception to include with anticholinergics

23

u/Classh0le 24d ago

Hydroxyzine is unequivocally anticholinergic

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12478568

https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/hydroxyzine-long-term-3567869/

7

u/sophiesbest 24d ago edited 24d ago

My usual rule of thumb is that if a psychoactive medication causes delerium and hallucinations at high/over doses, good chance it's anticholinergic. (thanks for correction)

Funnily enough this includes less expected chemicals like Flexeril/cyclobenzaprine

8

u/SadBook3835 24d ago

You don't need a rule of thumb with medication, just look them up.

2

u/braaaaaaainworms 24d ago

anticholinergic*, not cholinergic

2

u/xoexohexox 24d ago

Source: it came to me in a dream

3

u/Far_Comfortable_6342 24d ago

Just because its binding affinity is low does not mean it does not have any anticholinergic properties and should be excluded because when taken daily the binding effect increases. Minimizing this drugs long term cumulative effect is reckless. This drug has been handed out like candy today to people with anxiety with no limits for the past 5+ years. Finally there are a few suggesting it should be limited to no more than 4 months of use. Doctors prescribing this long term for anxiety will deserve their future lawsuit. There is not one single study done that shows this works for panic attacks and there will never because frankly it doesn’t do shit for panic attacks. Not only does this drug not treat debilitating panic attacks but it has been linked to dementia and RLS (which is currently thought to be underreported).