Over Counter Sleep Aids Linked to Dementia

What is perplexing is how drug companies always cite FDA approval for drugs when  they are found to be dangerous. They do not explain that most of the management of the FDA is former drug company lawyers and officials. Who can rely on the FDA which has approved numerous dangerous lethal drugs for the American public? 

[From article]
New research is warning about a possible link between a very common allergy medicine and dementia.
CBS2’s Dr. Max Gomez reported that long-term use of an antihistamine known as diphenhydramine, which is commonly sold as Benadryl and included in many over-the-counter medications for cold and allergies, may increase the risk of dementia and even cause irreparable harm.
Diphenhydramine, which also causes drowsiness, is in popular sleep aids such as Tylenol PM, Advil PM, and ZZZQuil.
“I would take these medications myself only very rarely and I will try at all costs to avoid taking them for a long term,” Stanford psychiastrist Barbara Sommer said.
Sommer is an expert on anticholinergic drugs like diphenhydramine. She said recent research found that older adults who took anticholinergics continuously for years performed worse on tests that measured short-term memory, verbal reasoning, planning, as well as problem-solving.
PET scans revealed their brains were less active and MRI scans showed their brains had shrunk.
“Whereas it’s always been thought if you stop anticholinergic drugs, all of the cognitive functions you’ve lost come back, now people aren’t so sure,” Sommer said. “And they’re worried that this may lead to or hasten the onset of dementia.”
These studies do not prove a cause and effect.
“The active ingredients are approved by the FDA and recognized as safe and effective when taken as instructed,” Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the group that represents the makers of these over-the-counter products, said in a statement.
Also, the labels are clear – people should only use them occasionally and for no more than two weeks.
Experts said if people need help sleeping fore more than a couple of weeks, they should consult a doctor.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/05/31/study-benadryl-dementia/

Research: Long-Term Use Of Benadryl, Many Over-The-Counter Cold Medications Linked To Dementia
CBS News New York NY
May 31, 2016 6:08 PM

Smart Beds Coming To A Bedroom Near You

Look for hotels to add on other services.

Luna smart mattress
A new smart mattress hopes to create the perfect conditions for sleeping and waking up by controlling your house. Luna’s new device fits around the mattress like a cover, and monitors whether those sleeping on it are asleep. When it senses that they are, it can power down lights or change heating settings. And when it detects that they’re waking back up, it can start brewing coffee or turn the lights back on.

Memories Implanted in Mice. Are You next?

[From article]
Sleeping minds: prepare to be hacked. For the first time, conscious memories have been implanted into the minds of mice while they sleep. The same technique could one day be used to alter memories in people who have undergone traumatic events.
When we sleep, our brain replays the day's activities. The pattern of brain activity exhibited by mice when they explore a new area during the day, for example, will reappear, speeded up, while the animal sleeps. This is thought to be the brain practising an activity - an essential part of learning. People who miss out on sleep do not learn as well as those who get a good night's rest, and when the replay process is disrupted in mice, so too is their ability to remember what they learned the previous day.
[. . .]
Loren Frank at the University of California, San Francisco, agrees. "I think this is a really important step towards helping people with memory impairments or depression," he says. "It is surprising to me how many neurological and psychiatric illnesses have something to do with memory, including schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27115-new-memories-implanted-in-mice-while-they-sleep.html#.VP3dWl1NJhF

New memories implanted in mice while they sleep
16:53 09 March 2015
by Jessica Hamzelou
Journal reference: Nature Neuroscience, doi:10.1038/nn.3970

After 12 Years In Vegetative State, Man Awakens, Marries

Martin Pistorius and his wife, Joanna.

[From article]

But by the time he was 14 or 15 years old, Martin began to awaken.
“Yes, I was there, not from the very beginning, but about two years into my vegetative state, I began to wake up,” Martin recalls. “I was aware of everything, just like any normal person. Everyone was so used to me not being there that they didn’t notice when I began to be present again. The stark reality hit me that I was going to spend the rest of my life like that – totally alone.”
[. . .]

Now Martin, 39, is in full control of his body. He’s married and lives a normal life in Harlow, England.

[. . .]

Now Martin, 39, is in full control of his body. He’s married and lives a normal life in Harlow, England.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/01/man-awakens-from-12-years-in-vegetative-state/

MAN AWAKENS FROM 12 YEARS IN 'VEGETATIVE STATE'
'I was aware of everything'
January 12, 2015

French Parliament Introduces Bill To Permit Deep Sleep For Terminally Ill

A parliamentary debate on the issue would be held in January  
Photo: Alamy

[From article]
Doctors in France will have the right to put terminally-ill patients into a deep sleep until they die, under plans unveiled on Friday that reignited a national debate on euthanasia.
Apart from Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, few countries in the world explicitly permit euthanasia or assisted suicide.
In France, a 2005 law permits "passive euthanasia", where a person causes death by withholding or withdrawing treatment that is necessary to maintain life.
The proposals by two MPs – one from the ruling Socialists, the other from the opposition UMP – go a step further, as they allow doctors to couple passive euthanasia with "deep and continuous sedation" for terminally-ill patients who are conscious and whose treatment is not working or for those who decide to stop taking medication.
Patients who are not able to make decisions could in certain circumstances also be placed into deep, permanent sleep.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11290282/French-parliament-prepares-new-end-of-life-legislation.html

French parliament prepares new end-of-life legislation
French parliament to debate a draft law that will give doctors in France the right to put terminally-ill patients into a deep sleep until they die
By Henry Samuel, Paris
3:01PM GMT 12 Dec 2014

Sleep Is Taking Out Brain Trash

http://www.france24.com/en/20131017-sleep-helps-brain-stay-fit-clearing-waste

17 OCTOBER 2013 - 23H30 
Sleep helps brain stay fit by clearing waste
AFP

Sleep Helps Brain Cell Production

University of Wisconsin research showed sleeping helps growth of myelin which allows electrical impulses to move rapidly from one cell to the next.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2411833/Sleep-helps-boost-brain-cell-production-Findings-insight-role-rest-brain-repair-growth.html

Sleep 'helps boost brain cell production': Findings could give insight into role of rest in brain repair and growth

Research by University of Wisconsin showed sleep boosts myelin
Myelin allows electrical impulses to move rapidly from one cell to the next
Scientists say findings could give new understanding about multiple sclerosis, a disease that damages myelin
Suggest extreme or chronic sleep loss could aggravate some MS symptoms
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 16:16 EST, 4 September 2013 | UPDATED: 16:16 EST, 4 September 2013

Various Sleep Patterns

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polyphasic+sleep

Polyphasic sleep
Free Dictionary

How To Sleep?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2210468/How-good-nights-sleep.html

Perfecting the art of beauty sleep: How to get a good night's rest
By ALICE SMELLIE
Daily Mail (UK)
PUBLISHED: 17:00 EST, 29 September 2012 | UPDATED: 17:06 EST, 29 September 2012

Sleep Aids Weight Loss

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2137631/Want-lose-weight-Get-sleep-Resting-longer-suppresses-obesity-gene.html

Want to lose weight? Get more sleep: Resting for longer suppresses the obesity gene
By ROSIE TAYLOR
Daily Mail (UK)
PUBLISHED: 23:00 EST, 30 April 2012 | UPDATED: 23:01 EST, 30 April 2012

Remembering Dreams

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127013/Want-remember-dreams-Start-taking-vitamin-B-6-eat-lots-bananas.html

Want to remember all your dreams? Start taking vitamin B-6 (or eat lots of bananas)
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 16:03 EST, 8 April 2012 | UPDATED: 16:07 EST, 8 April 2012

NY Psychiatrist Worked 141 Hours Per Week

Surely this genius altruistic psychiatrist suffers from manic depression, and exaggeration syndrome. Psychiatrists cannot lie having their genes for mendacity bred out of them. Having access to new drugs and behavior conditioning techniques enables this super human genetic wonder to work without sleep. He knows what special foods and medications to use so that he does not need sleep, unless he is being paid overtime. What a delightful caring person, a role model for his patients and colleagues.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/this_city_doctor_claimed_to_work_2z6omKQKnBicR8SVP5xEkL

Kings County shrink claimed to work 141 hours in one week
$515,700 overtime shocker
David Seifman
New York Post
Last Updated: 5:21 AM, October 2, 2011
Posted: 11:50 PM, October 1, 2011

Strokes Happen During Sleep

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/09/us-strokes-idUSTRE7485ZK20110509

One in seven strokes happens during sleep
By Alison McCook
Reuters NEW YORK
Mon May 9, 2011 4:21pm EDT

Sleep Is Beauty Treatment

[From article]
"Sleep is the body's natural beauty treatment,"

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/beauty_tip_that_zzzzz_orcBm4JDLI7BfUdH19unJP

A beauty tip that's E-Zzzzz!
By RITA DELFINER
New York Post
Last Updated: 7:23 AM, December 16, 2010
Posted: 12:40 AM, December 16, 2010

Sleep, Weight Loss

[From article]
"When they were well-rested, more fat was shed."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/docs_discover_dream_diet_CARFXnoYZTix52Ge0EqtAO

Docs discover 'dream' diet
By SCRIPPS HOWARD
New York Post
Last Updated: 5:17 AM, November 2, 2010
Posted: 1:48 AM, November 2, 2010