Posted by SLS on February 4, 2016, at 14:32:31
In reply to Benzodiazepines: No Dementia Risk?, posted by Phillipa on February 4, 2016, at 10:26:03
> New study delivered to my RN newsletter now states that long term use of benzos there is no risk of dementia or Alzheimers. The other studies were wrong . I can only copy & past page one. as is two pages but will do that. Have been worried for years since been on low doses since the 70's Phillipa. Will copy & paste page one the rest is from Medscape.
I never bought into the claims that benzodiazepine (BZD) use led to Alzheimer's Dementia (AD). Still, I couldn't be sure. I just know that I would have no hesitation in using BZDs on a regular basis if they were to enhance the quality of my life.
If there is an association between BZD and AD, this might be an artifact of the disease being treated. For instance, it is now known that severe depression or anxiety carries with it a 2-3 times greater risk in the development of Alzheimer's Dementia. The people with these disorders are more likely to use BZDs as a treatment, and thus we have the likely cause for the association. It isn't the BZD that causes AD, but, rather, it is the depression and anxiety itself. BZDs might actually help prevent AD by reducing chronic stress. What would happen if you were to have severe anxiety inadequately treated because the BZD dosage was kept too low? You might end up with exactly the result reported by the study. It found that only the lower dosages were associated with AD.
Phillipa, I would not worry too much that your long-term BZD use will lead to AD.
Has your anxiety improved at all?
- Scott
Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1085929
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160131/msgs/1085943.html