Persistence of cognitive effects after w/d from long-term benzo. Meta-analysis

• 
  "The current paper addressed two questions: (1) Does the cognitive function of long-term benzodiazepine users improve following withdrawal? (2) Are previous long-term benzodiazepine users still impaired at follow-up compared to controls or normative data? In order to examine the questions of recovery of function and persistence of effects, two meta-analyses were undertaken".
   
   
   
  
• The results of this study support extreme caution in the use of long-term benzodiazepine therapy. Although these findings suggest that previous long-term benzodiazepine use may lead to impairments in cognition, some degree of improvement in cognitive function after withdrawal was observed, suggesting that previous benzodiazepine users are likely to experience the benefit of improved cognitive functioning after withdrawal.
   
  However, data from this study do not support a full recovery, at least in the first 6 months following cessation and suggests that there may be some permanent deficits or deficits that take periods longer than 6 months to completely recover. Professionals and patients should be well aware of the potential for cognitive impairments prior to prescribing or taking benzodiazepine medication on a long-term basis. It is imperative that patients are provided with this information so they may then make an informed decision as to whether to use benzodiazepines, weighing up any potential treatment benefits against the likelihood of dependence and cognitive impairment".
  

Note, the follow-up was only for six months.  Full study here:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887617703000969?np=y

It's a very valuable paper, but it was written in 2003. I wonder how many doctors read it, and did they heed the words? It seems to have flown right past the heads of the majority of doctors.

Yes, it's an absolute (ominous?) mystery how it's fallen through the cracks like this.  This would be a very good study to present to doctors as it cites several others dating back to the 1980s.

"Despite such widespread use, little is known regarding the potential long-term effects of benzodiazepines. It is well accepted that, even at therapeutic doses, benzodiazepines are capable of causing physiological and pharmacological dependence leading to a withdrawal syndrome after cessation of use (Ashton, 1986, Chen, 1990 and Lader, 1982)."