People who take a group of drugs commonly used to treat anxiety and insomnia may have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, a study has found.
Benzodiazepines, also known as sedatives or tranquillisers, are a group of medications that help to regulate sleep, ease agitation and reduce anxiety. They include diazepam (Valium).
Dementia currently affects around 36 million people worldwide, including some 40,000 people in Ireland. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, accounting for up to 80% of all cases.
While a link between dementia and users of benzodiazepines has been found, the nature of this link has remained unclear, so researchers in France and Canada decided to investigate further.
They looked at the development of Alzheimer's disease in a group of older people who had been prescribed benzodiazepines. Over a six-year period, almost 1,800 cases of Alzheimer's were detected and these were compared to over 7,000 people of similar age who did not have the disease.
The study found that those who had in the past used benzodiazepines for three months or more had an increased risk - up to 51% - of developing Alzheimer's disease. This link became stronger the longer they used the drugs.
Source: Deborah Condon, Irish Health, 15/09/14
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