• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Rethinking CAncer

Alternative Cancer Therapies

Header Right

Foundation for Advancement in Cancer Therapy
Non-Toxic Biological Approaches to the Theories, Treatments and Prevention of Cancer
2023
Our 52nd Year
  • Resources
    • Articles
      • A Different Concept of Health and Disease
      • Balanced Diet
      • Food as Medicine
      • Detoxification
      • Emotional Healing
      • Understanding Body Function
      • Adjunctive Therapies
      • Miscellany
      • Long-Term Recovery: Case Histories
    • Cancer Forum Magazines
    • Audio Presentations
    • Video Presentations
    • Bioprepair & Cancer FAQ
    • Recipes
      • Drinks & Shakes
      • Breakfast Ideas
      • Hors d’Oevres
      • Soups
      • Dressings, Sauces & Dips
      • Salads
      • Entrees
      • Vegetable Side Dishes
      • Desserts & Snacks
      • Miscellaneous
    • Book Reviews
    • Recommended Reading
    • Research Studies
    • Books
  • News
    • Foods of the Week
    • Spice of the Month
    • Rethinking Cancer Newsletters
  • Film
    • The Bio-Repair Patients
    • The Physicians
    • Filmmakers
    • Rethinking Cancer Film Credits
  • Practitioner Directory
  • About Us
    • About Biorepair
    • About FACT
    • About Ruth Sackman
  • Donate
  • Search
  • Shop
  • Cart
  • Resources
    • Articles
      • A Different Concept of Health and Disease
      • Balanced Diet
      • Food as Medicine
      • Detoxification
      • Emotional Healing
      • Understanding Body Function
      • Adjunctive Therapies
      • Miscellany
      • Long-Term Recovery: Case Histories
    • Cancer Forum Magazines
    • Audio Presentations
    • Video Presentations
    • Bioprepair & Cancer FAQ
    • Recipes
      • Drinks & Shakes
      • Breakfast Ideas
      • Hors d’Oevres
      • Soups
      • Dressings, Sauces & Dips
      • Salads
      • Entrees
      • Vegetable Side Dishes
      • Desserts & Snacks
      • Miscellaneous
    • Book Reviews
    • Recommended Reading
    • Research Studies
    • Books
  • News
    • Foods of the Week
    • Spice of the Month
    • Rethinking Cancer Newsletters
  • Film
    • The Bio-Repair Patients
    • The Physicians
    • Filmmakers
    • Rethinking Cancer Film Credits
  • Practitioner Directory
  • About Us
    • About Biorepair
    • About FACT
    • About Ruth Sackman
  • Donate
  • Search
  • Shop
  • Cart
Alternative Cancer Therapy

Anti Antihistamine
By Bill Hogan

May 7, 2020 //  by RethinkingCancer//  Leave a Comment

At one time or another nearly everyone has taken diphenhydramine, an antihistamine that can have a sedating effect on the central nervous system. Millions of people take it for dust, pollen and other allergies; others for nausea, vomiting or vertigo; some for Parkinson’s disease. And untold millions use it as a sleep aid. Best known under the brand name Benadryl, it’salso in myriad other over-the-counter medications, including Excedrin PM, Nytol, Sleep-Eze, Sominex, Tylenol PM and Unisom, to name just a handful.

For people age 60 and older, however, diphenhydramine is mostly bad news because its adverse effects are amplified in older people.

A study published in 2001 in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that a group of hospitalized patients 70 and older who were given the drug “had significantly increased risk of altered attention level, disorganized speech, change in consciousness and alertness, and behavioral disturbances,” according to the study’s lead author, Joseph V. Agostini, a professor at the Yale University School of Medicine.

In the worst cases, diphenhydramine can cause delirium and even hallucinations. What’s more, it often causes urinary retention, which can lead to urinary tract infections.

Geriatric specialists say the drug is not recommended for older patients. “It really can have profound effects in older people,” says Agostini. “When you weigh risk-benefit overall, you may experience more harm than good, and that’s never the end result that you want.”

But millions of older Americans use forms of diphenhydramine with no knowledge of the medical problems it can cause. And bad advice abounds: A popular website on arthritis, for example, calls the medication “particularly useful in the elderly patient.”

Among other potential adverse effects of diphenhydramine are: dizziness or low blood pressure, which dramatically increase the risk of falls, drowsiness, bowel problems, difficult or painful urination, dryness of mouth, nose or throat. Also: nervousness, restlessness, irritability and unusual excitement or nightmares.

Agostini’s assessment of the drug as a sleep medication for an older person is blunt: “This is a horrible choice I almost can’t think of anything worse.”

Category: 21-11-12

Previous Post: « A New Paradigm By Philip Incao, M.D.
Next Post: Bacteria That Strengthen The Immune System By Richard N. Podell, M.D. »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Watch Our Movie

Rethinking Cancer The Movie

Newsletter Sign-up

Amazon Smile Rethinking CAncer

E-book Editions

detoxification

Available to buy on:
Amazon | iTunes | B&N

triumph over cancer

Amazon | iTunes | B&N

healing cancer

Amazon | iTunes |
B&N

Featured Posts

  • Being Smart With Your Smart Phone
  • Bentonite Clay — The Gentle Cleanse
  • A Really Good Brownie
  • Rethinking Cancer Newsletter #78
  • Healthy Ginger Snaps Recipe

Footer

F.A.C.T.

Established in 1971, the Foundation for Advancement in Cancer Therapy (FACT) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization that supports non-toxic, biologically sound alternative cancer therapies. FACT is the creator of the documentary film Rethinking Cancer and rethinkingcancer.org.

Contact Us

FACT
PO Box 1242
Old Chelsea Station
New York, NY 10113

info@rethinkingcancer.org.

twitter facebook youtube

Amazon Smile Rethinking CAncer

Menu

  • Alternate cancer therapy Resources
  • News
  • Film
  • Alternative Cancer Therapy Practitioner Directory
  • About FACT
  • Donate to Rethinking Cancer

Copyright © 2023 Rethinking Cancer - Alternative Cancer Therapies · All Rights Reserved · Web Design by Conceptstore.co.uk