This month in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society was a report suggesting a link between long term use of Histamine-2 Receptor Antagonist type of drugs (like Zantac and Pepcid) and cognitive decline in African Americans. Reuters Health first reported on this study. Before you throw away your stash of Zantac or Pepcid, please keep in mind that the researchers concluded that more studies are needed to confirm a potential cause-and-effect, and that cognitive decline was seen in 17.7% of the patients who were enrolled in the study. These patients were also of a very specific population: African Americans “65 and older with no baseline cognitive impairment living in Indianapolis, Indiana.”
The Association Between Cognition and Histamine-2 Receptor Antagonists in African Americans
AbstractOBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between histamine-2 receptor antagonist (H2A) exposure and incident cognitive impairment in a community-based sample of African Americans.
DESIGN: Five-year longitudinal observational study.
PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 1,558 community-dwelling African Americans aged 65 and older with no baseline cognitive impairment living in Indianapolis, Indiana.
OUTCOME MEASURE: Incident cognitive impairment, defined as incident dementia, cognitive impairment without dementia, or poor cognitive performance, as determined using combined cognitive assessments that included the Community Screening Instrument for Dementia, a comprehensive clinical assessment including informant interview, and neuropsychological testing.
EXPOSURE: Trained interviewers assessed the use of prescription and over-the-counter H2As using in-home inspection of medications and report of participants and informants.
RESULTS: Incident cognitive impairment occurred in 275 (17.7%) participants. After controlling for age, education, baseline cognitive score, the use of anticholinergics, and history of diabetes mellitus and depression, continuous use of H2As was associated with greater risk of incident cognitive impairment than for nonusers (odds ratio=2.42; 95% confidence interval=1.17–5.04).
CONCLUSION: H2As might be a risk factor for the development of cognitive impairment in African Americans. This finding requires confirmation from future studies.
“ by a company called The Ultimate Life. The label said that it was a meal replacement and that when taken properly, it literally replaces multivitamins (unless you’re over 40, in which case you’re suggested to take additional antioxidants). The canister listed all the stuff in it and where each ingredient came from; it was an impressive list, many of which I recognized from my undergraduate microbiology class (spirulina, algae, chlorophyll, etc.)