KEY POINTS

Several allergy experts have proposed retiring first-generation antihistamine diphenhydramine.

Second-generation antihistamines have fewer side effects and work as well as their predecessors.

Diphenhydramine is recognized to have high adverse side effects, particularly in children and older adults.

Some allergy specialists are questioning whether one of the most familiar and oldest antihistamines, diphenhydramine, needs to be retired in favor of second-generation drugs that have fewer side effects and work as well.

The World Allergy Organization Journal published “ Diphenhydramine: Is it time to say a final goodbye ” in February, but as experts have shared it with each other and increasingly discussed it on social media, the paper’s getting more attention now.

The paper

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