Tart cherry juice may also benefit the brain investigators at the University of Delaware recruited 3 dozen volunteers 65 to 80 years of age they had normal cognitive function for the next 3 months they consumed either a cup of tart cherry juice in the morning in evening or a cup of cherry flavored Kool-Aid as a placebo at the end of the study those drinking cherry juice scored better on cognitive tests than the group on placebo the cherry juice drinkers also noticed improvement in every day memory like blueberries cherries contain anthocyanins as well as poly phenols these compounds appear to reduce inflammation and lower blood pressure this clinical study reinforces prior research in animals showing that tart cherry juice may have benefits for human health Reza Vera trollers another compound founding grapes and berries a new study shows that this compound can help reduce stress the researchers studied the effects of her is very trial on the stress hormones cortisol and corticosteroid on in laboratory mice increases in these hormones affect the hippocampus in the brain leading to behaviors suggestive of anxiety or depression Reza very trial inhibits a brain and time and protests the hippocampus from stress related damage proton pump inhibitors such as s. Ome Epperson all or a map or so all are popular acid suppressing drugs doctors prescribe them for a wide range of intestinal disorders and people take over the counter versions for nearly any kind of digestive complaint the prevailing view has been that these medicines are quite safe overall but this view has been tempered by the recognition that their long term use is linked to a greater risk of bone fractures kidney problems and infections now scientists in Austria have found that. People taking p.p.i. Eyes are almost twice as likely as other patients to need our g. Medicine for hypes they reached this conclusion through analyzing medical records of 8000000 adults covering 39000000 person years of follow up for years the Food and Drug Administration has maintained that it's unsafe for Americans to import prescription medications from any other countries including Canada such practices are officially illegal the Us citizens have been doing so for years without penalty now in an about face the administration is preparing to allow importation of certain prescription drugs from Canada Alex a.s.r. Is head of Health and Human Services he announced on July 31st that state governments pharmacies and drug manufacturers might be allowed to purchase pharmaceuticals from Canada the safe importation action plan will likely be selective in that it will allow these intermediaries to buy medicines for cardiovascular problems arthritis cancer and diabetes it remains to be seen whether individual Americans will be allowed to buy other medicines directly from Canadian pharmacies and that's the health news from the People's Pharmacy this week. Welcome to the People's Pharmacy I'm Joe Graydon I'm a pharmacologist and I Terry Grayden I'm a medical anthropologist Today we're talking about the health news that matters to you a recent study published in Jama internal medicine reinforces the connection between anti colon or just drugs and dementia we'll be discussing the details of this research and we'll invite you to share your story about drugs like game a trip to lean die fen hydro me known as Benadryl and lomotil which contains atropine a little later in the show we'll also be talking about some frequently overlooked side effects of cholesterol lowering drugs or just getting your cholesterol low many people are aware that whilst that means lower cholesterol they may also cause muscle pain or weakness fewer people know about neuropathy a study that came out this spring shows up pretty strong link Have you had any difficulties with nerve pain or numbness while you were taking a step drug but 1st let's discuss a common problem almost everyone has experienced mosquito bites What do you do about the itch give us a call to tell us about your remedy the number is 888-472-3366 extension 4 lines are open for your calls and your stories are you a mosquito magnet What do you do to prevent mosquitoes from biting in the 1st place if you'd like to join the conversation and share your story the number is 888-472-3366 or you can send us an e-mail radio at People's Pharmacy dot com And you know there is of course a way to keep mosquitoes from biting Yes you use insect repellent correct I mean they're that's what it's for there's no. That d. D. e T. Di Ethel Tal you're right if I'm not mistaken something like that carrot in right and the words that lemon you boil of lemon eucalyptus that they're all affective repels But you know some people say that b. Vitamins work and other people say b. Vitamins are worthless and the scientific research is actually rather ambivalent Yeah there isn't all that much scientific research on b. Vitamin c. But we do have people who have told us that b. Vitamins are absolutely great so early for example says I hate mosquitoes for the past 25 years I've been tormented by these evil bloodsucking stalkers Oh that's a nice turn of phrase evil bloodsucking doctors that is what they are and she goes on unfortunately I am highly allergic to thereby especially the saliva my skin swells up to unnatural proportions and the itching is so intense it's unbearable and she says even anti-histamines don't help and neither do any of the remedies I had scoured the internet daily to try to find anything that might work Finally about 3 years ago I found it someone had travelled in Thailand a pharmacy team in Bangkok prescribed the best preventative remedy vitamin b one that's fine me 400 milligrams daily I take to 250 milligram tablets daily b. Vitamins are water soluble like vitamin c. Your body needs be one it eliminates the excess in the urine and she says this works the odd bite I did get didn't cause that histamine reaction in my body now there is a lot of science that says it doesn't work there is indeed a lot of science in the well not very much science. The science that there is says dying mean worthless ineffective against mosquitoes interesting Lee Joe several years ago probably more than 10 we got a message from a fellow who lived near Charlotte North Carolina and he said for decades I've been taking by me to ward off the mosquitoes because I'm a hunter and I'm out there in the woods and he said for decades it worked and then the Asian tiger mosquitoes came into the area and the fine mean is useless against these new types of mosquitoes and I think they're pretty widespread now 888-472-3366 if you've got a way to prevent list leaders from biting or for dealing with the itch but Terry you know the person who contacted us. She actually sounds like she has Skeeter syndrome it does sound that way now tell us who it is Skeeter since we didn't even know such a thing existed well and then you found this phrase in medical journal he had I think it was American family physician but here's another person who says I suffer from and usually severe reactions to mosquito bites each bite causes a red swollen area the size of a quarter I've learned to never scratch as the red area will grow to several inches and take weeks to clear up last summer about 20 bytes while I was gardening caused an immune system reaction that triggered eczema that lasted for months after I'd suffered for years a dermatologist prescribe Try am sin alone it's been life changing just the smallest dab on a mosquito bite makes it disappear within 24 hours a bite rarely needs a 2nd application why isn't this medicine mentioned as a treatment for extreme mosquito bite reactions and actually when you found Skeeter syndrome that is the sort of thing that they do recommend a prescription strength corticosteroid topical right over the counter steroids just totally wiped out strong enough Joe let's go to the found 888-472-3366 we're talking to May in Fayetteville North Carolina welcome to The People's Pharmacy may. Well I may. Try How do you work off mosquitoes. Skin cell salts. Yes. You and a lot of other people we heard from. For decades that when they're out in the in the area where mosquitoes are biting and Fayetteville is certainly an area where a lot of Marines hang out that Avon Skin So Soft actually does the time you know I even think of our own skins are soft has now made a mosquito repellent they put in the greedy and right in one of their products how well does it work for you may it work well because I have 3 boys and they are very active they say outside. That on now they do not have any trouble at all well thank you so much wonderful for thank you my sharing Bye bye. And let's show we go to Dallas Texas and see what Stephanie does yeah let's hear your solution Stephanie. Hello. Hi says If any idea. I use that one body works one for no sugar one action and I never have a problem and I gave the idea to my mind he was on a golf course and he said it was 1st I mean great well that is cool so that the body you were so this is also similar to Skin So Soft It's like a. And after bath thank you. Well it's normal to know was it could have been I was it Ok let me make one I'm sorry one but it was sugar but I have to be Monella Ok I'm leaving is an hour or are i like us to try to watch a and not other one like tell you that I prefer to know that well thank you very much to me and you know we have we have a message from ne Dean also in Texas she says Avon skin so soft spray was the only thing that repelled sand fleas in the swampy areas of South Carolina spending weeks in swampy environments as an active duty marine deep products coupled with the sun's rays damaged my skin the skin so soft was mild and repelled all kinds of bugs the troops and I would mix one capful of rubbing alcohol in our back the oil spray bottle the effects only lasted a few hours but it works I've tried every kind of bug repellent but Skin So Soft is the best interesting. If you get bitten by a mosquito yet then what do you do about the it so if you have Skeeter syndrome what you want is a strong corticosteroid ask your dermatologist or your doctor try and sit on works I happen to be super sensitive to chigger bites and I use clubby this all probably the most powerful prescription topical corticosteroid there is if I get it on fast enough the chigger bite doesn't get out of control but if you're a normal person like me like you. Know what to do for a regular in quotes misstating write mosquito bites hot water and we read about this in the dermatology textbook in 1960 s. It has to be hot enough to be uncomfortable but not so hot that it will burn you definitely do not want to burn your skin Here's one way you can do it Joe you've got your cup of coffee. In the morning it's fresh it's really hot you stick your spoon in it's better if you haven't put sugar and cream in your coffee yet. And then you take that spoon out and put it right on the mosquito but for a couple seconds yeah now and it's hot it stops the a chain now if you're out in the woods and you don't have hot water there are some devices there are indeed these are battery powered devices that provide just a little bit of heat just enough to that focused area it's called Therma pic there's another one called bite helper and they seem to work pretty well to stop that itching for all you know 2 or 3 hours at a time right so these are battery powered he them up kind of things and you you just apply it to your skin for a couple of seconds is that right that's my understanding and I've not used one and some of our readers say they really work just about as well if not better than hot water absolutely Well that's really excellent advice so and let's not put down deep pick keratin or that lemon eucalyptus No no these these insect repellents are are effective and if you were in an area where insect where mosquitoes are carrying nasty diseases like West Nile et Quine encephalitis during. The stuff chicken going yeah. You definitely want to prevent mosquito bites if at all possible so you want to use an effective repellent we need to take a break but when we come back or a switch gears are you taking a medicine that could make you confused or forgetful a surprising range of common drugs have anticholinergic activity that can be a problem particularly as we get older do you know whether your medicine has. As anticholinergic action give us a call and share your story 884723366 . You were listening to the People's Pharmacy with Joe and Terry Graydon. On the next morning edition Democrats debate how far to move to the left the person is enjoying this debate most right now always Donald Trump and how do you know the sunscreen you choose is absolutely safe I think there was sort of an assumption that these are you know these are things that we apply to our skin I don't really get into our bloodstreams here the news plus the stories that affect your world on the next Morning Edition from n.p.r. News tonight Monday morning on k u a our. Basic in This American Life whose grandma has cancer and a family in China is not telling are pretty sure a lot of other Americans would feel the way that I felt it somebody is going to die that it's their right to know yeah and the but away dancing lesson that your piece of this. Your life you're not lead weights are hard at this week Saturday at one and Monday at 8 pm 189 point one k. U.a.r. . Welcome back to the People's Pharmacy I'm Terry great and I'm Joe great and if you would like to purchase a c.v. Of this show or any peoples pharmacy broadcast you can call 807322334 Today Show 1174 that number again 87322334 visit our website People's Pharmacy dot com You can also download the free podcast from our website or were ever you get your podcast The People's Pharmacy is brought to you in part by Verizon and analytical laboratory providing home health tests for hormones good health and the micro biome on line at v e r I s n dot com today on The People's Pharmacy we're talking about anti colon or chick drugs a recent study in Jama Internal Medicine has strengthened the link between these medicines and an increased risk of dementia now Joe and Ty colon or Jake. Yes I mean it's a farm college just wonderful term they love it you're a pharmacologist I love that I have to explain it because to the rest of us it sounds like while Mom was Ok let's start with and you know this is kind of interesting I tried to find out what is the official print and pronunciation for what I have always called Assa teal Coley Well people pronounce it all kinds of ways for example as a tile cold mean and acetyl cold lean but basically for our purposes today I'm going to call it s a t o calling it is a neurotransmitter it is essential for virtually every muscle in your body if you want to lift a pencil you have to have acids feel Colin working and working effectively too much too little you get into all kinds of problems but I still call him is also essential in the brain that's what I was wondering because muscles are great but they don't have much to do with your brain you've got no muscles in your well we think that as Colin is very involved in the whole process of dementia in particular all Simers disease so the drugs that are available are not very effective actually help build up as to teel coaling levels so bottom line as to calling critical. Well then what's an anti colon or chick drug Well it's just what it sounds like it has anti acid feel Coleraine like activity it's so i'm still those receptor it's the lox this neuron I think it's measured in some places precisely and there is now this brand new research and the title is anticholinergic drug exposure and the risk of dementia a nested case control study Jama Internal Medicine came out end of June and it reinforces what we have suspected for at actually a very long time that anticholinergic drugs might affect the brain and memory and you know we should have known this because if you go back 100 years ago German obstetricians were trying to help women going through labor and delivery for get the experience they came up with something called and I'm going to mess this pronunciation up so you get to help me here Dahmer off I think it's that's pretty close enough maybe it was called twilight sleep in English and basically the the German researchers said it clouded consciousness with complete forgetfulness What was it it was a combination of morphine and scope Pola me now skip well mean that's a medication that people use a lot for seasickness right right trans term scope you put a little patch behind your ear it is a powerful anticholinergic drug along with another drug called have tripping and after penis found in a diary medicine called lomotil And so there are a lot of drugs that most health professionals are aware of that have anticholinergic activity Well we've got a story here from somebody called. C. S. Who writes Many years ago my urologist prescribed Dittrich Pam and I took the drug for about 4 years I had an hour's drive to work every day and I began to realize that many days I could not remember the drive I did arrive at work with my mind in a somewhat fuzzy state I happened to pick up a new prescription for ditcher Pat the pharmacy and started reading the side effects of the drug I saw that my symptoms could be connected to the drug I stopped taking it immediately and decided to try to control my bladder some other way my symptoms went away and I've not had any problems since well have you ever experienced forgetfulness brain fog memory issues that might have been caused by your medicine could that medicine have been an anti colon or chick drug How would you know give us a call 888-472-3366 you can email us radio it peoples Pharmacy dot com Again if you've worried about your medications and whether or not they have anticholinergic activity or you've had a problem with something like that your pen which is known generically I think is Oxy Butin but there are a whole bunch there are dozens scores perhaps hundreds of drugs with anticholinergic activity including Di fen hydro mean d.p.h. That's also known as Benadryl and it's found in almost all over the counter what I call sleeping pills planning pm painless pain relievers Advil pm tylenol pm Aleve pm It's got pm It's probably got I found a hide for me that number again if you'd like to join our conversation 888-472-3366 Joe the British researchers who were. Looking at who published this this research they found several different categories of drugs who were especially problematic they had some anti-seizure medicines they had anti-psychotic drugs like Abilify for example they had anti Parkinson drugs and they had anticholinergic antidepressants so similar to amitriptyline and including amateur Well a lot of people are taking am a trip to lean now it's an old an old anti-depressant but they're taking it for sleep they're also taking it for nerve pain so ima trip doing the has had something of a resurgence but even some of the more modern antidepressants like peroxide Paxil. May have some anticholinergic activity and if you are perch cants taking more than one of these medications that adds to the possibility that they could scramble your brain Well I think that's a really critical point it's called the anti colon or tick burden so if you're taking just like one drug maybe you take a leaf pm I'm left handed Thursday so that's probably not going to cause much trouble especially if those left handed Thursdays don't come along very often exactly but on the other hand if you're taking you know one of these pm pain medicines every night and you're taking something for an overactive bladder problem and you're taking an anti-depressant like peroxide teen or something like a my trip to lean you know as you add more and more medications to the list that anticholinergic burden goes up and up and up and th