The bright side

Although I have spent the majority of my time discussing the negative effects of drugs, there must be some positive effects of drugs, right? Or else nobody would take the time or money to use drugs.

Comparison between a normal brain and an Alzheimer's effected brain

Alzheimer's disease has been known to take the minds of loved ones during old age. This disease is a progressive and fatal brain disease that destroys brain cells and has no cure.  This is a very devastating disease and some research done by the Neurobiology of Aging came across some good news.

The onset of Alzheimer's disease can be delayed by the use of histamine H2 blocking drugs. This was a little too much information for me when I first read about it, so I decided to investigate a little further and find out common reasons for the use of H2 blocking drugs. What I discovered was that H2 blockers are used to prevent acid build up in the stomach and also used to treat ulcers in the stomach. How does something that controls stomach acid prevent dementia? I could not find a solid answer. However I gathered some numbers and percentages that are fairly shocking.

It is estimated that 10% of the developed world population will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease between the ages of 65 and 90. That means that if or when I finally have ten followers on my blog, one of my followers will most likely be diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease later in life.

Also, there was a study done by Duke University that determined the effects of H2 blocking agents. In a population of 156 people, 21 were exposed to H2 blockers and 135 were not exposed. After more than one month of exposure the examinations begun.
The result: there was a 10 year difference in side effects of those exposed to h2 blocker. Simpler terms: the H2 blockers delayed the effects of Alzheimer's 10 years.

Some common H2 blockers

I found this interesting. So next time you have a nice greasy piece of pizza, make sure to ask your Pharmacist for some H2 blocking drugs. This way you can control the acid and delay Alzheimer's disease all in one.



http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5643960.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8544901
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0F-3TDHRHD-78&_user=10&_coverDate=11%2F12%2F1997&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1510875553&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=331d055bf2ee3b46ef217e1ac0e28601&searchtype=a
http://www.neurobiologyofaging.org/article/0197-4580%2895%2900049-K/abstract