Benzodiazepines are a type of sleeping pill prescribed by doctors to reduce symptoms of anxiety and sleeping troubles. The recommended duration of treatment is a few weeks.
However, according to the Medicines Agency, more than 11.5 million French people have already consumed it, and especially for too long (4, 5 or even 6 months without interruption).
However, taking excessive benzodiazepines is not without danger, it could even increase the risk of dementia 51%, according to a new Franco-Canadian study published in the scientific journal The British Medical Journal.
The researchers worked from the database of the Régie d’Assurance Maladie du Québec, to analyze the link between the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease and taking benzodiazepines. They studied the cases of nearly 9,000 people over the age of 66, including 1,796 Alzheimer’s patients, and 7,184 healthy people, serving as a control group.
The research team then found that taking benzodiazepines for a minimum of three months was associated with an increased risk on average of 51% (30% for doses not exceeding 6 months, 60 to 80% for longer treatments) .
“The strength of the association increases with the duration of exposure and with the use of benzodiazepines long-acting, as opposed to short-acting benzodiazepines, ”explains Sophie Billioti de Gage, Inserm researcher and co-author of the study.
This is commonly referred to as the dose-response relationship.
If the exact causal link is not yet known, the researchers call for caution and limit treatment to a maximum of three months, as doctors should recommend when prescribing.
To limit the use of sleeping pills, of which the French are very consumers, the High Authority of Health even recommended last July to reduce reimbursement by social security from 65% to 15% only.
Source:
Inserm Press Release,
Benzodiazepine use and risk of Alzheimer’s disease: case-control study, published in the scientific journal British Medical Journal, September 9, 2014.
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