It’s no big
surprise to come out of the doctor’s with a prescription for a drug, we just
want to get better but we rarely give second thought to what we are actually
buying. We all know drugs and medicaments have side effects, but there may be
more than you think, and way more serious than you would imagine.
Anticholinergics,
medicaments commonly prescribed to renal and gastrointestinal patients have
been proven dangerous by British researchers. They work by inhibiting a chemical
messenger called acetylcholine. Their effect is to help relax and contract the
muscles surrounding the bladder or intestines, and to ease some symptoms from
Parkinson’s disease.
In this new
study, which has taken into account data from tens of thousands of participants,
researchers concluded that anticholinergic drugs may increase the risk of
developing dementia by almost 50%. The team looked at data listing the
information about prescriptions over a period of 10 years.
Nevertheless,
the research team concluded with this statement:
“The risks
of this type of medication should be carefully considered by healthcare
professionals alongside the benefits when the drugs are prescribed and
alternative treatments should be considered where possible”.
Another
group of widely spread drugs are benzodiazepines, which include Xanax and
Valium. These are commonly prescribed to treat mental disorders such as ADHD
and anxiety. They are very effective treating these diseases relaxing the
muscles, inducing sleep and reducing the chance of seizures.
But lately
there has been a mass consumption of these drugs with recreational purposes,
mostly by teenagers that illegally obtain the drugs. The long term effects of
benzodiazepines abuse include drug dependence and neurotoxicity, as well as
serious effects on cognitive function due to the young age of the teenagers that abuse them.
It's clear that medical professionals must start acknowledging the risks of certain drugs, as well as prescribing alternative treatments. Another matter that should be taken into consideration is restricting the access to drugs that are being used for recreational purposes.
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