These medications could give you dementia if you take them too often two are over-the-counter

This could be a hard pill to swallow.An unhealthy diet, chronic insomnia, obesity and certain genetics can raise your risk of dementia, which destroys your memory, thinking skills and capacity to do basic tasks over time.Now, a board-certified anesthesiologist in Los Angeles is revealing five daily medications that may also increase your likelihood of developing dementia, a group of brain disorders that affects nearly 7 million Americans.“The theme for [nearly] all these medications [is] they typically affect your brain,” Dr.Zain Hasan recently shared on TikTok.

“Anything [that] sedates your brain for a long period of time, including anesthesia, can cause dementia.”“If you take diphenhydramine, also known as Benadryl or Elavil, or any sort of antihistamine medication or anticholinergic for a long period of time, it has been linked to dementia,” Hasan said.Benadryl is an over-the-counter antihistamine used to relieve symptoms of hay fever, allergies and the common cold.Research has shown a link between an increased risk of dementia and long-term use of Benadryl and other anticholinergic drugs that block acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter crucial for muscle contractions and important brain functions like learning and memory.Subscribe to our weekly Post Care newsletter! Please provide a valid email address.

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“This is pretty common knowledge, but if you take any opiates like morphine regularly, they affect your brain,” Hasan said.Opioids are a key component of anesthesia.One study found that the risk of developing dementia can nearly double within three to seven years of undergoing surgery where anesthesia is administered.“This was a little bit surprising to me, but if you take omeprazole regularly, it can increase the amount of beta-amyloid in your brain, which can lead to dementia,” Hasan ...