Dementia Rates Decline Sharply

Please read the following scientific study on dementia and the use of Benadryl (or such type) medications. The results are that roughly 50% of all people using such medications for 10 years or longer developed dementia! The effects are not always reversible, even when the medication is discontinued! This is huge! Our new (for us) doctor recently informed my husband and me about this, and took us off a generic version of Benadryl (we were using only one per day as a sleep aid) for this reason. We have definitely experienced the memory loss described in the study. Hopefully, it will reverse now that we are no longer using it!

Please read this article: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/common-anticholinergic-drugs-like-benadryl-linked-increased-dementia-risk-201501287667

Included in the article is the study itself. If you're not familiar with research studies, you can just read the results. By the way, the comments didn't exist when i read this and i don't have time to read them before posting this, but i believe this is so important that i will post now and take flak later. There certainly will be dispute on the conclusions of this article. Still, well worth reading!

Sorry all. Upon returning to the article i mentioned in the above post, i realize the comments were there when i originally read the article about a month ago. I, apparently, didn't read them then. Doesn't change my stance, however. I am no longer using Benadryl and have no plans to resume its use. Dementia is, for me, the #1 scariest thing about aging. I choose to not tempt fate.

I agree with Ella. Also, be sure to stay hydrated. Lack of adequate hydration can produce dementia like symptoms. Older people rarely drink enough water--very simple remedy. Medications can very much cause dementia as well as some of the foods we eat that elevate glucose levels in the blood stream. I am a former nurse and I rarely take any medication--the side effects are toxic and I really have to weigh the side effects against any possible benefits. Both of my grandmothers lived to nearly 100 years of age--one was only five months from reaching that goal. Both said it was because they did not take any medications--none.

Jennifer's note about dementia like symptoms was helpful. There's obviously a big difference between dementia like symptoms, which may have a cause that can be treated, vs. the actual disease of dementia. I also agree with Ella that dementia is the #1 scariest thing about aging for me too!

While the reported results of the study are interesting, we really don't know whether the results are due to a reduction in the disease, or changes in diagnoses and treatment of those individuals who had treatable dementia symptoms. The article raises a lot of questions about how the study was conducted.

I tend to be very cynical about any claims that dementia is avoidable by exercise, Vitamin E, not using aluminum pans (remember that one?), statins, fish oil, etc. I've been monitoring every single article and claim for decades, and ultimately have been disappointed when they prove to be myth, unsupported or based on bad science (including studies based on miniscule sampling), non-repeatable research results, marketing ploys for a particular product to try to take advantage of fear, etc. I now have kids working in health care, including a PharmD. They are all closely monitoring medical reporting and drug research. We do the Alzheimer walks, wear purple, and donate as aggressively as possible to research efforts. Why? My spouse, who was physically fit and active, with no history of the disease in his large family, was diagnosed out of the blue with the disease about 20 years ago, when he was in his early 50s. The disease ultimately killed him in his late 60s (yes, it was the cause of death). Anyone who has any experience with this disease knows its horrors. In or case, our kids grew up with the disease and we fought it as a family for years -- and we were young and healthy while caregiving. My sympathies and prayers are extended to family members in their 60s, 70s and 80s who find themselves struggling with caregiving in retirement.

I'd like to believe that doing word games and puzzles, eating well and staying physically fit can avoid Alzheimers, instead of making someone a healthier Alzheimers' patient. Maybe the study indicates that is happening. We can hope.

Hello Kate:

I was at home on Wednesday, Nov 23 and Dianne Rhemon NPR had a guest on her program who talked about dementia and alzheimers. Both of his parents suffered from the diseases, he was a researcher and he said that while the mind games may be stimulating, he does not delude himself into thinking it could save him from getting either of the above. The good news is that there is a 24% reduction in Alzheimers and dementia which is being researched. A cure cannot come soon enough. We are exposed to many more toxins in our food and the environment than our grandparents and parents ever were. On top of that the pharmaceuticals with their side effects and interactions can magnify the problem.
Lots to think about here.

Jennifer and Kate,
Thanks for your comments. I, too, don't know for sure if Benadryl does cause or contribute to dementia. However, just as my mother quit smoking, cold turkey, after 50 years of the habit upon hearing that she had damaged the major artery to her heart; i quit using Benadryl as a sleep aid upon my doctor urging me to and checking the internet for confirmation or denial. Surprisingly, i'm sleeping just fine other than waking up early. (I truly am surprised about this as i didn't think i could sleep without the medication.)
As i mentioned before, i have seen memory losses in both my husband and myself. This is certainly a small price to pay for the possible return of, or at least slow down of the demise of our cognitive functions. Here's hoping! And i, too, offer my deepest heartfelt concern to those who have walked this path.

Interesting comments about Benedryl. I rarely used it but when I do have sinus congestion or post nasal drip I've switched to the children's version. Even one adult dose gives me very strange nightmares.

While the comments about education level and mental stimulation from jobs, living in safer areas reducing stress, give hope, I think my neighbor would find little consolation in that. Her husband is a retired high level judge with stimulating interests who suffers from Alzheimer's and has declined this past year. We can just try to eat healthy, exercise our bodies and brains and pray.