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Antihistamines

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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

Synonyms

Histamine antagonist; Inverse histamine agonists

Definition

Antihistamines have multiple clinical indications including allergic conditions (rhinitis, dermatoses, atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, allergic conjunctivitis, hypersensitivity reactions to drugs, mild transfusion reactions, and urticaria), chronic idiopathic urticaria, motion sickness, vertigo, and insomnia. Antihistamines are most commonly used to treat allergies; H1 receptor inverse agonists typically reduce swelling and vasodilation within the nasal area. H1 receptor antagonists include cetirizine, diphenhydramine also known as Benadryl, desloratadine, doxylamine, ebastine, fexofenadine, loratadine, pheniramine, and promethazine. H2 inverse agonists reduce gastric acid and are used to treat ulcers and reflux. H2 receptor antagonists include cimetidine, famotidine, lafutidine, nizatidine, ranitidine, and roxatidine. H3 and H4receptor antagonists are experimental in nature and are being investigated for...

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References and Readings

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Correspondence to Maya Balamane .

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Balamane, M., Kolakowsky-Hayner, S.A. (2018). Antihistamines. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1628

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