3 ms·

Daily allergy tablets are associated with huge increases in early onset Alzheimer’s. Glad you found something that works, but might be good to get some of the a

Daily allergy tablets are associated with huge increases in early onset Alzheimer’s. Glad you found something that works, but might be good to get some of the allergen injections :)

tnchr 4mo ago
I believe it depends on which ones, the older gen or certain classes of antihistamines
cenamus 4mo ago
Where are getting that from? All I can find is about 1st gen antihistamines (i.e. Benadryl, which I doubt many people take daily, because of the drowsiness). Even for those, evidence seems to be mixed at best. "Huge increases" seems like hyperbole.
darkwater 4mo ago
Wait, what?? Now I'm getting in panic mode because I do take regularly anti-hystaminic tablets/pills (the newer ones, based on ebastine because they don't make me feel sleepy)
- linsomniac 4mo ago
  You don't seem to need to worry, second gen tablets seem to be fine: https://claude.ai/share/9c6eaaa5-e734-4267-b540-ddc0188daf6b https://claude.ai/share/9c6eaaa5-e734-4267-b540-ddc0188daf6b
  - yosame 4mo ago
    Posting a claude chat is not actually helpful. The chat doesnt't even cite any sources. I think this post is a decent summary, the answer is a soft maybe: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/should-i-worry-about-dementia-risk-from-antihistamines https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/should-i-worry-... Second-gen tablets might increase dementia risk by a small-to-medium amount (there's almost certainly still a small degree of CNS activity, and we don't know what causes dementia in the first place), but researching it will be difficult. Dementia is hard to research because of how long it takes to develop, and it's poor coding within health data, and antihistamines are hard to research because they're not often prescribed and aren't available in the health data. If it's a large effect, those factors wouldn't matter, but smaller risks are harder to detect and more sensitive to bias. If you want to minimise dementia risk, then reducing antihistamine use might be warranted, but you're probably better off addressing the risk factors we do know about: https://www.dementia.org.au/brain-health/risk-factors-developing-dementia https://www.dementia.org.au/brain-health/risk-factors-develo...
    - linsomniac 4mo ago
      >Posting a claude chat is not actually helpful. The chat doesnt't even cite any sources. You didn't read it very closely, I posted it specifically BECAUSE it cites sources (14 of them by my count). edit: I sit corrected, if I open it in Incognito mode the citations are removed. That's not very useful. edit 2: Here is a gist with the citations: https://gist.github.com/linsomniac/6d2bdeb0f63cf504354b067e2cf114a6 https://gist.github.com/linsomniac/6d2bdeb0f63cf504354b067e2...
meindnoch 4mo ago
Misinformation. Only first-generation antihistamines with anticholinergic effects are associated with cognitive decline in elderly patients.
- ForceBru 4mo ago
  LMAO at how the two of you sound authoritative and knowledgeable, but neither linked to ANY studies (or at least personal anecdotes) to support your claims. Yet here we are, warning each other about the dangers of LLM hallucinations. Humans "hallucinate" (provide random authoritative-looking information without anything to back it up) pretty often too.
fuomag9 4mo ago
Only first gen, 2nd gen does not have this issue anymore or it’s greatly reduced
linsomniac 4mo ago
That seems to be only for first generation, drowsy-making, tablets. Second gen formulas don't cross over the blood/brain barrier. https://www.myalzteam.com/resources/zyrtec-and-alzheimers-medication-considerations https://www.myalzteam.com/resources/zyrtec-and-alzheimers-me... There IS one year-old finding that suddenly stopping Zyrtec after daily 3-month use may lead to nasty itching, and if that happens you can re-start and then taper off. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-communications/fda-requires-warning-about-rare-severe-itching-after-stopping-long-term-use-oral-allergy-medicines https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-communications/fda-req...
- amluto 4mo ago
  Zyrtec/cetirizine is a weird one. Everyone seems to agree that it is a second-generation antihistamine. The FDA seems to play along. But there is no particular shortage of anecdotal evidence of people who find it quite sedating (hi there!), there are some papers questioning its status [0], and the FAA puts it in a category with diphenhydramine, not with loratadine and fexofenadine [1]. [0] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1118461/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1118461/ [1] https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/AllergyAntihistamineImmunotherapyMedication.pdf https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/AllergyAntihistamineImmu...
  - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4mo ago
    Ceterizine does cross the BBB to some extent, just less so than a lot of furst gen ones. So it can still have some hypnotic effects, sure. But that's not the important difference here. The important difference is that ceterizine has negligible antimuscarinic effects, unlike DPH, meclizine, cyclizine et al. Antimuscarinics are nasty drugs, and the antimuscarinic activity(and sometimes other non-histaminergic activity as well) is why a lot of first generation antihistamines are so bad for your brain.

Daily allergy tablets are associated with huge increases in early onset Alzheimer’s. Glad you found something that works, but might be good to get some of the allergen injections :)

tnchr 4mo ago

I believe it depends on which ones, the older gen or certain classes of antihistamines

cenamus 4mo ago

Where are getting that from? All I can find is about 1st gen antihistamines (i.e. Benadryl, which I doubt many people take daily, because of the drowsiness). Even for those, evidence seems to be mixed at best. "Huge increases" seems like hyperbole.

darkwater 4mo ago

Wait, what?? Now I'm getting in panic mode because I do take regularly anti-hystaminic tablets/pills (the newer ones, based on ebastine because they don't make me feel sleepy)

linsomniac 4mo ago
You don't seem to need to worry, second gen tablets seem to be fine: https://claude.ai/share/9c6eaaa5-e734-4267-b540-ddc0188daf6b https://claude.ai/share/9c6eaaa5-e734-4267-b540-ddc0188daf6b
- yosame 4mo ago
  Posting a claude chat is not actually helpful. The chat doesnt't even cite any sources. I think this post is a decent summary, the answer is a soft maybe: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/should-i-worry-about-dementia-risk-from-antihistamines https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/should-i-worry-... Second-gen tablets might increase dementia risk by a small-to-medium amount (there's almost certainly still a small degree of CNS activity, and we don't know what causes dementia in the first place), but researching it will be difficult. Dementia is hard to research because of how long it takes to develop, and it's poor coding within health data, and antihistamines are hard to research because they're not often prescribed and aren't available in the health data. If it's a large effect, those factors wouldn't matter, but smaller risks are harder to detect and more sensitive to bias. If you want to minimise dementia risk, then reducing antihistamine use might be warranted, but you're probably better off addressing the risk factors we do know about: https://www.dementia.org.au/brain-health/risk-factors-developing-dementia https://www.dementia.org.au/brain-health/risk-factors-develo...
  - linsomniac 4mo ago
    >Posting a claude chat is not actually helpful. The chat doesnt't even cite any sources. You didn't read it very closely, I posted it specifically BECAUSE it cites sources (14 of them by my count). edit: I sit corrected, if I open it in Incognito mode the citations are removed. That's not very useful. edit 2: Here is a gist with the citations: https://gist.github.com/linsomniac/6d2bdeb0f63cf504354b067e2cf114a6 https://gist.github.com/linsomniac/6d2bdeb0f63cf504354b067e2...

meindnoch 4mo ago

Misinformation. Only first-generation antihistamines with anticholinergic effects are associated with cognitive decline in elderly patients.

ForceBru 4mo ago
LMAO at how the two of you sound authoritative and knowledgeable, but neither linked to ANY studies (or at least personal anecdotes) to support your claims. Yet here we are, warning each other about the dangers of LLM hallucinations. Humans "hallucinate" (provide random authoritative-looking information without anything to back it up) pretty often too.

fuomag9 4mo ago

Only first gen, 2nd gen does not have this issue anymore or it’s greatly reduced

linsomniac 4mo ago

That seems to be only for first generation, drowsy-making, tablets. Second gen formulas don't cross over the blood/brain barrier. https://www.myalzteam.com/resources/zyrtec-and-alzheimers-medication-considerations https://www.myalzteam.com/resources/zyrtec-and-alzheimers-me... There IS one year-old finding that suddenly stopping Zyrtec after daily 3-month use may lead to nasty itching, and if that happens you can re-start and then taper off. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-communications/fda-requires-warning-about-rare-severe-itching-after-stopping-long-term-use-oral-allergy-medicines https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-communications/fda-req...

amluto 4mo ago
Zyrtec/cetirizine is a weird one. Everyone seems to agree that it is a second-generation antihistamine. The FDA seems to play along. But there is no particular shortage of anecdotal evidence of people who find it quite sedating (hi there!), there are some papers questioning its status [0], and the FAA puts it in a category with diphenhydramine, not with loratadine and fexofenadine [1]. [0] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1118461/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1118461/ [1] https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/AllergyAntihistamineImmunotherapyMedication.pdf https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/AllergyAntihistamineImmu...
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 4mo ago
  Ceterizine does cross the BBB to some extent, just less so than a lot of furst gen ones. So it can still have some hypnotic effects, sure. But that's not the important difference here. The important difference is that ceterizine has negligible antimuscarinic effects, unlike DPH, meclizine, cyclizine et al. Antimuscarinics are nasty drugs, and the antimuscarinic activity(and sometimes other non-histaminergic activity as well) is why a lot of first generation antihistamines are so bad for your brain.