Benzodiazepine, a sedative that is widely prescribed to deal with people suffering from anxiety and insomnia, have been linked to a 50 percent increase in the chance of Alzheimer’s disease, a group of French and Canadian researchers reported Tuesday within the online edition from the journal BMJ.
Within the study, lead investigator Sophie Billioti de Gage from the University of Bordeaux and her colleagues looked at nearly 2,000 installments of Alzheimer’s in Quebec residents a minimum of 66 years of age, all whom had been prescribed benzodiazepines. The researchers then compared the individuals to a lot more than 7,000 healthy people of roughly exactly the same age and living in exactly the same community.
Based on the Huffington Post UK, de Gage and her associates discovered that previous use of the sedatives for at least 3 months was associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s five years later. That risk varied from 43 percent to 51 percent, and also the strength from the association increased using the longer amount of use. Additionally, it increased with use of long-acting benzodiazepine versus short-acting ones.
“Our study reinforces the suspicion of the increased risk of Alzheimer-type dementia among benzodiazepine users, particularly long-term users, and provides arguments for carefully evaluating the indications to be used of this drug class,” the authors wrote, adding the findings were “of major importance for public health, especially considering the prevalence and chronicity of benzodiazepine use in older people and the high and increasing incidence of dementia in civilized world.”
Benzodiazepines include such popular medications as diazepam and lorazepam, explained Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor for The Telegraph. Actually, a lot more than six million prescriptions were issued for the drugs in England last year, she added, which is why is the findings essential. While the authors the study results do not prove that drugs are causing Alzheimer’s, i was told that that there is a strong “suspicion of possible direct causation.”
Considering the findings, de Gage and her colleagues asserted benzodiazepines should not be employed for more than 3 months. However, Smith yet others point out that some experts believe the outcomes could just reflect the truth that lots of people who’re already in early stages from the neurodegenerative disease are treated for anxiety and/or sleep problems, which this could cast doubt around the paper’s conclusions.
“This study shows an apparent outcomes of the use of benzodiazepines and Alzheimer’s disease although it’s hard to know the underlying cause of the hyperlink,” Dr. Eric Karran, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, told BBC News. “One limitation of the study is the fact that benzodiazepines treat symptoms for example anxiety and sleep disturbance, which might be also early indicators of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Professor Guy Goodwin, president from the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, added the study’s findings “could imply that the drugs make the disease, but is more likely to imply that the medicine is being given to individuals who are already ill.” However, Dr. James Pickett of the Alzheimer’s Society, said the paper provided evidence that long-term benzodiazepine use “increases the chance of dementia is significant.”
In related news, AFP reports published Wednesday says the annual cost of dementia in the united kingdom has increased to 26 billion pounds, which patients, their own families as well as their caretakers were being instructed to cover two-thirds of those costs themselves.
According to the news agency, Alzheimer’s Society chief executive Jeremy Hughes is looking around the British government to supply the individuals and families with more financial help, calling the fact they only receive financial help totaling typically one-third of the annual total care costs equal to enacting a “dementia tax” that “unfairly disadvantaged” the 225,000 people who develop the condition each year.
