Diphenhydramine and Heart Disease

Just like any other medicine, diphenhydramine--while highly effective in relieving the symptoms of allergic reactions--can affect other drugs, and can even worsen already existing diseases aside from allergy. We are talking about diphenhydramine and its negative effects on heart disease. Heart disease is a blanket term for all kinds of heart ailments such as coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, congenital heart disease and their related diseases. Diphenhydramine can impact negatively the heart of people with existing heart disease because it can excite the heart due to palpitations. This is the reason why diphenhydramine is not also advised to people with high blood pressure.

Diphenhydramine is a drug that works by blocking the histamine effects at the receptor sites of cells involved in the allergy. The eventual result is the increase of vascular smooth muscles contraction, creating a strain on the heart and its associated blood vessels and arteries. For people with a normal heart, this is not a cause of concern but not for those with any form of heart disease. The additional strain on the heart means that it works double and at an overloaded fashion. A struggling heart can only take so many loads. This situation may often result to complete heart failure.