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Chronic use of common sedative [benzos] linked to Alzheimer's risk


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Conclusions:

 

In this prospective population based study, new use of benzodiazepines was associated with increased risk of dementia. The result was robust in pooled analyses across cohorts of new users of benzodiazepines throughout the study and in a complementary case-control study. Considering the extent to which benzodiazepines are prescribed and the number of potential adverse effects of this drug class in the general population, indiscriminate widespread use should be cautioned against.

 

http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e6231

 

laser

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Interesting.  Thanks Laser.  The article touches upon the possibility of reverse causality and I wonder how well that has been eliminated in this study.

 

 

 

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Came here to post this.  A 51% increased risk is nothing to sneeze at.  It's been known for years that benzos can cause drug-induced dementia, which is reversible, but Alzheimer's is a 100% fatal disease.  Considering how many people take benzos daily, this should raise some major red flags.  The elderly in particular are often over-medicated with many drugs including benzos.  The personal and societal costs of Alzheimer's are huge.
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This study hit major outlets yesterday....I heard it on The Today Show AND read it on  USA TODAY! It also made NBC News and CBS News.

A terrifying prospect for all of us and all the people unknowingly filling refills for these drugs....

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/10/alzhemers-medication-anxiety-sleep/15383315/

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/anxiety-drugs-linked-alzheimers-n199501

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-anxiety-drugs-could-raise-risk-for-alzheimers/

 

 

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it's worth noting that correlation is not causation, and that many of the early symptoms of dementia are also things for which benzos might be prescribed.

 

There may well be a causative relationship, but this is not a smoking gun.

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Dementia is condition of too much glutamate at play in the brain.  So are 12 other brain diseases including ALS and Huntingtons.

 

Medications for all these conditions try to suppress glutamate like Memantine and 33 other drugs on my list.

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Hi folks

 

It will still get politicians attention and any adverse publicity for benzos is GOOD NEWS.

 

The BMJ is a prestigious medical journal. I know. I have published in it as a co-author but been rejected many times too. No, I am not a doctor.  >:(

 

If there is the slightest risk of benzos causing Alzheimer's the public will listen.

 

The more research into this the better.

 

We should all be celebrating.

 

Come to my chocolates, cakes and celebrations thread.  :yippee: :yippee: :yippee:

 

LF  :smitten:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I wonder if these patients were simply exhibiting symptoms of tolerance and withdrawal since we all know cognition, memory, spacial reasoning, etc. can all get severely affected and I'd imagine more so in elders who metabolize much more slowly and more likely to already have some cognitive decline. It might be another case of misdiagnosis.

 

It's great benzos are getting bad coverage but I wonder if they aren't getting to the truth of the issue.

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Please, I have severe memory loss from Ativan.  All I can do is to try to hold on each day and taper to get off of this poison that took my memory.  I'm trusting in God to restore my memory.  I can't let these reports scare me anymore. I have to hold onto hope.

 

It's ridiculous that benzos do this to people.  I live a horrific life right now and have for the past four years.  I can't live with this severe memory loss, so if it doesn't come back I'm in trouble!  I just don't know what to think anymore?  So many different studies saying the memory is reversible, partially reversible or permanent.  They state in one study it slowly reverses in six years but may be incomplete.  Anyways, God is in control!

 

Hold onto HOPE!

 

Deborah

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Haven't posted on this site in long time, but came here to find out what others were thinking about the article.    I am terrified.  I'm only on .5mg nightly and have been for the better part of a year (and before that.. it was up to 1mg, sometimes 2mg a night).  I've been on these damn things for a few years total and I am freaking out. 

 

Have already started stepping down again, now at .375~ a night and will remain there for a week or so before going down to .25/night.

 

What I really want to know is whether any of this is reversible?

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Well, the lead author stated that the overall results were not a surprise because the short-term deleterious effects of these medications on memory are well documented. Basically, this researcher is saying doctors should have suspected this might be the case. That's what really gets me - this has been going on for so long with doctors continually prescribing these drugs with little concern about what happens to their patients down the road.
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I have a genetic predisposition for dementia since my father was losing his memory in his fifties.  I'm now in my fifties and my memory is very bad now from having been on these pills.  That's what worries me so much.  I'm terrified of having known about this association years ago.  They haven't proven causation yet, so it's not proven, but it's disturbing.  They've been doing these studies of assocation since the 70's I believe. 
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I have a genetic predisposition for dementia since my father was losing his memory in his fifties.  I'm now in my fifties and my memory is very bad now from having been on these pills.  That's what worries me so much.  I'm terrified of having know about this association years ago.  They haven't proven causation yet, so it's not proven, but it's disturbing.  They've been doing these studies of assocation since the 70's I believe.

 

I have this in my family too.  Can the memory loss be reversed by stopping taking the benzo?  Or are we fucked. 

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What I've noticed time and time again on this forum is that those who end up having problems with healing and their minds have very stressful external circumstances that keep the anxiety and stress levels up and glutamate storming going on in the CNS.  That's the case with me:  no money, no health insurance, lots of outside noise, verbally and emotionally abused by nearly everyone I've ever known, abandoned and abused by parents and sibling, friends and boyfriends; always misunderstood.  It's a huge disruption to my CNS that keeps me in hyperalert all the time.  That was the case with my father, too.  My parents were fighting and going through a divorce and that is about the time his memory started faltering.  He was prescribed Librium at the time and I wonder if his personality changes and loss of memory may have been linked with taking those benzo's, his alcohol use and the family stress?  He had tons of Valium and other benzo's in the house.  I'm thinking all these stressors on our bodies and brains contribute to dementia.  I'm wondering if the benzo's send some of our CNS's over the cliff then?  I think it did mine.  IMO. 
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Becks

 

I am 18 months off nitrazepam now. I expect it will take me another 1-2 years anyway to get better the rate I am going at. I have no external stressors. Peace and quiet, good friends, no financial problems, no other health problems. I should be zooming towards the finish line. External stressors are of course not helpful but it is very easy to always look at everything in a negative way.

 

Dementia affects people in all sorts of circumstances with all sorts of lifestyles and personalities.  I know things have been very hard for you and are very hard just now but looking at the negatives all the time will only hinder your recovery. Your past was unhappy, your future need not be. Your symptoms can diminish and you can feel better.  Try to find some positives in your life. We all have them if we look hard enough.

 

I was getting despondent today about the length of time I have been in bed, about how little I can do and about the lack of cognitive function I have. I gave myself a good shake and told myself not to go down that road. I refuse to start thinking like that. It would be the start of a slippery slope back into depression.

 

For every positive thought I have, I could quite easily replace it with a negative one. I could write a long list of negative thoughts and make myself utterly miserable.  Try to be positive for your own sake.

 

Hugs

 

LF  :smitten:

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lookingforward,  You're not in my shoes, so you have no idea how bad my situation is.  Thinking positive thoughts are good for you, but my thoughts are of surviving each day with this dementia and agony.  My thoughts are moaning and crying every minute because I suffer so much mentally and physically. 
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Ok, lookingforward, thanks.  I just wish I could muster up positive thoughts.  I can't.  I'm so depressed from the huge loss I've suffered in every area of my life, physically, mentally, personally, etc. since I jumped off these poisons.  It's been a steep and painful fall.  I'm not sure I can recover from it.
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my first husbands aunt had Alzheimers. i dont think she took benzos.

 

up until her sixties she was a lively, interesting person. she was very creative.

 

my Grandmother seemed more like Alzheimers but actûally she had TIa. some kind of strokes??

 

i think alot of benzo w/d sx mimic alzheimers....

 

the forgetfullness, etc

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Hi Becks

 

I know you are in a bad way and I really wish I could help. Try to cling onto the hope that things might, just might get better. A tiny litlle bit of hope must be there deep within you.  I think we all cling onto something to keep us going.

 

When at my lowest in life I found religion a source of support and strength when I had nothing else.

 

I spent most of my life struggling on a limited budget, fighting depression, always wondering what was wrong with me. I have lived with noisy neighbours, partying at night, playing loud music. A disastrous marriage. Now benzo withdrawal.

 

I have been so low I no longer wanted to live and almost succeeded in taking my own life. I know what psychological torment is like.  Believing everyone would be far better off without me.  I don't think it is possible to get any lower.  It is a time in my life I consciously avoid remembering.

 

I know I am in a better place now but I can understand how you feel.

 

There is always hope.

 

Even in darkness the stars still shine. One is shining for you.

 

Hugs, my friend.

 

LF  :smitten:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks, LF.  I think I get angry and frustrated that I can't muster positive thinking and hope.  It just isn't there for me.  For some reason God gets me through each day and things work out for me by some miracle.  Things that aren't working start working again.  I did so much work here today preparing for winter and with a steep fall in temps. outside today with all this vertigo and depression and it all worked out well.  My fear is so bad and the isolation is severe. 
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