To treat stress and anxiety, there is meditation, walking, sports, yoga… and medication. Highly consumed in France, anxiolytics of the benzodiazepine class (Valium, Xanax, Lexomil, etc.). are effective but have many side effects, addiction being one of the most problematic. Moreover, according to a recent study published by the magazine Prescribe in its September edition, excessive consumption of benzodiazepines in the elderly could lead to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The study covers 1796 patients aged over 66 and shows that patients with Alzheimer’s disease are those who took the most benzodiazepines during the 5 to 10 years preceding the first symptoms. The results of this observation converge with five other epidemiological studies.
A plausible but not proven link
Nevertheless, the authors wish to underline that other studies are contradictory to them, in particular insofar as they highlight an absence of link with the duration of exposure or the cumulative dose.
They note that “the results of this type of study are by nature of low level of evidence and do not make it possible to establish a causal relationship”. However, “a causal relationship is plausible given the adverse short-term cognitive effects that benzodiazepines cause.”
On the other hand, the authors wonder whether anxiety, being one of the first signs of the disease, is the main reason for the prescription of anxiolytics and not the reverse.
Faced with this uncertainty, Prescribe calls for vigilance regarding the molecules Zolpidem (Stilnox) and Zopiclone (Imovane), which could lead to dementia. An additional argument to avoid these drugs as much as possible, especially in the elderly, given their already proven adverse effects.
Read also :
Benzodiazepines: 60% of consumers are women
Medicines: the French addicted to anxiolytics
The risk of dementia increased by taking benzodiazepines
