Common Medicines
He was the "patient number five" in his late fifties when a visit to doctors completely changed his life. The old man decided to participate in a study on the effect of statin, which doctors usually prescribe to lower cholesterol, on diabetes.
But his wife soon noticed suspicious changes in his behavior. As the man, who was known for the sway of his mind, suddenly became very tempered, raging anger for the most trivial reasons, especially while driving, and even threatened his family once to stay away from him for their own safety.
Patient number five stopped driving and his wife preferred to distance herself from him and let him watch TV and calm his nerves, in the interest of her safety.
But one day, patient number five remembered that these problems did not begin until after he participated in the study. Beatrice Golomb, who leads the research team at the University of California, San Diego, said the discovery made the couple rush to study organizers to inquire about these effects.
However, the authors of the study denied these allegations and instructed them to continue taking the drug and continue studying. But at this point the patient's agent overflowed and rushed out of the office and stopped taking the drug. Barely two weeks passed, until he regained his usual personality.
Over the years, Golomb has reported on patients whose usual drugs altered their lives, destroyed their marital and professional lives, and led a large number of men to begin killing their wives. In the vast majority of cases, it was noted that the symptoms of personality change started with the start of taking statin and disappeared when patients stopped taking it.
Golump says most patients are unaware of these changes in their behavior, and even if they realize it, they rarely associate them with drugs.
We all know that hallucinogens affect the brain, but new evidence has recently emerged that regular drugs, such as analgesics containing paracetamol, anti-allergic drugs, statins, asthma drugs, and antidepressants, are no less effective than hallucinogens on the brain, as they can make us more impulsive, more agitated, more anxious, and less Our ability to empathize with strangers.
But the effect of these drugs varies from person to person. In 2011, a French father sued two children, "GlaxoSmithKline," claiming that the drug he takes to treat Parkinson's disease made him addicted to gambling and homosexual practices, and blamed the drug for the serious behaviors he practiced and subjected to rape.
In 2015, an accused of prosecuting underage girls on the Internet pretended that he was taking anti-obesity "durumin", which weakened his ability to control his desires.
But if these allegations are true, the list of drugs that affect personality includes the most consumed drugs on earth, meaning that the effects of these drugs may change the personalities of millions of people around the world.
These results come at a time when the world is facing a crisis of excessive drug use, as Americans consume 49,000 tons of paracetamol annually, equivalent to 298 tablets per person. Parallel to the rise in life expectancy, our passion for drug use has increased to a level that is out of control. In the UK, one in ten people over 65 years of age takes eight drugs per week.
How do all these drugs affect our brains, and should warnings be written on medication packages?
Golomb questioned for the first time about the effect of statin on the character nearly two decades ago, after noting that a low cholesterol level increased the odds of committing violent behaviors.
With research in previous scientific studies, Golomb was surprised by the amount of evidence supporting this relationship, including one that concluded that primates following a low-cholesterol diet made them more aggressive.
This may be because lowering cholesterol levels in animals affects the levels of Serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for regulating mood and social behaviors in the brain. It was established that fruit flies begin to fight when serotonin levels in the blood are impaired. Studies have linked low levels of serotonin to violence, impulsivity, suicide, and homicide as well.
The statin effect on the brain may be attributed to its ability to lower cholesterol. Several studies supported the relationship between statin and irritability, including a study of more than 1,000 people and concluded that the drug increases violence and aggression in women who are past menopause.
A study of Nile tilapia in 2018 concluded that statin made fish more aggressive and affected serotonin levels in their brains.
However, Golomb also noted that the effects of usual drugs on behavior and personality are not receiving enough attention. Much of the research focuses on the physiological effects of drugs, but we do not yet understand how drugs affect our behavior, says Dominic Mishkovsky, a pain researcher at the University of Ohio.
Paracetamol is known to relieve physical pain by reducing activity in certain areas of the brain, such as the isolated cortex of the brain that plays an important role in controlling agitation. Mishkovsky also discovered that paracetamol reduces the pain we may feel due to social rejection.
Mishkovsky conducted a study on the effect of analgesics on our ability to empathize with others. The researchers divided the study participants into two groups, one of which took 100 milligrams of paracetamol, and then asked the two groups to read a story about a happy experience.
The results indicated that paracetamol reduces our ability to share with others their positive feelings, such as joy for their joy, and this indicates that the drug affects the social relationships of millions of people daily.
Mishkovsky described this result as terrifying, especially since these drugs are widespread and may affect the whole of society.
The ability to empathize with others is reflected in many aspects of our lives, such as our romantic relationships, children's mental health and a successful working life. Mishkovsky stresses the importance of learning about the effects of paracetamol on our psychological state, so that we can use it rationally.
Mishkovsky advises against taking paracetamol before situations that require emotional interaction, such as engaging in a serious conversation with your partner or co-worker.
This is because the body's organs do not function in isolation from one another, but rather many physiological processes overlap with one another. Scientists have pointed out, for example, that medications that treat asthma lead to a change in behaviors, such as hyperactivity or an increased risk of ADHD. Some attribute this to asthma medications altering levels of serotonin or inflammatory chemicals in the blood that are said to cause both asthma, ADHD and distraction.
A team of psychologists at Northwestern University conducted a study on the effect of antidepressants on our personalities. The team was interested in measuring the level of tendency towards anxiety, undue fear, jealousy, envy, and a tingling sensation.
Patients with severe and moderate depression participated in the study, and the researchers gave a third of the study participants antidepressants, from selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. After 16 weeks, the researchers noted that participants who took antidepressants scored low in a neurotic factor and high in a diastolic factor. This may be because the neurotic factor is related to the level of serotonin in the brain that has been affected by antidepressants.
One of the researchers involved in the study, Derobez, says American psychiatrist Peter Karmer has warned that antidepressants make some people less interested in what others care about. I would definitely advise my friends to beware of psychological side effects as much as they warn of physical side effects such as being overweight.
However, this does not mean that we stop taking these medications entirely - it has been shown that antidepressants prevent people from committing suicide, while cholesterol drugs save the lives of tens of thousands of patients annually. The World Health Organization has included paracetamol as a necessary drug because it is effective in relieving pain - but it is important to inform people about the psychological side effects that these drugs may cause.
Much evidence has proven, for example, that levodopa, which is used to treat Parkinson's disease or Parkinson's, increases the risk of impulse-control disorders that impair a patient's ability to resist temptations and desires.
This drug may have devastating consequences for the lives of some patients who suddenly dare take risks and take risks that they do not have before, such as satisfactory gambling, excessive shopping or sexual harassment. In 2009, the case of a Parkinson's patient who made £ 45,000 in fraudulent tickets to a fictitious party became famous, and he blamed the drug, claiming that he had completely changed his personality.
These reckless behaviors may be attributed to the fact that levodopa raises the level of dopamine in the brain, and this hormone is known to be responsible for the enjoyment and reward.
However, Levodopa is still the most effective treatment for many symptoms of Parkinson's, despite its list of side effects that includes a risk of reduced ability to control desires.
Derobez, Golomb, and Mishkovsky agree that the drugs they study will not stop using people despite their potential side effects on the brain, and Mishkovsky says there is no objection to taking these drugs as long as we consume them in moderation and in the appropriate circumstances.
But he stresses the importance of knowing the side effects caused by the drugs that we eat daily on our physical and mental health, because we do not yet know how these drugs affect the behavior of individuals and societies as a whole.
Common Medicines
Source: bbc
