Why is prolonged use of benzodiazepines dangerous?
It has been known for many years that taking benzodiazepines for more than 1 month leads to habituation (the need to increase doses to obtain the same effect), dependence (difficulty or even impossibility of doing without the product), and that stopping treatment can cause a withdrawal syndrome (reappearance of symptoms in a more marked way, risk of falling blood pressure, psychotic delirium, hallucinations, convulsions, malaise, etc.).
The study conducted by Sophie Billioti de Gage, a researcher at Inserm, and her team, completes this already bleak picture by demonstrating that benzodiazepines considerably increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease, the quintessential neurodegenerative disease, affects nearly 900,000 French people.
The study by the Inserm team
The study involved nearly 9,000 people over the age of 66, who were followed for 6 to 10 years.
It demonstrated that daily use of psychotropic drugs for several months increases the risk of developing a neurodegenerative disease.
- Taking it daily for 3 to 6 months increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease by 30%.
- Taking it daily for more than 6 months increases the risk of Alzheimer's by 60 to 80%
The French are particularly concerned
France holds the unfortunate record of being the world champion in psychotropic drug consumption (in 2012, nearly 12 million French people reportedly took them at least once).
Benzodiazepines are most often prescribed to treat stress, anxiety, and sleep disorders: all symptoms that can be addressed with alternative solutions (herbal medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture, etc.). It's also important to remember that simply "erasing" the symptoms doesn't resolve the underlying cause, and consequently, these symptoms generally reappear when treatment is stopped.
This phenomenon then leads to prolonged consumption beyond the recommendations of health authorities, which limit this type of treatment to a maximum of 12 weeks: many patients take psychotropic drugs for years…
Conclusion
This study confirms the dangers of psychotropic drugs.
It is hoped that it will be a catalyst for questioning the prescription of these medications that act on the brain.
- by not offering them as a first-line treatment for stress, anxiety, insomnia, etc.
- by strictly limiting their use to a period not exceeding 3 months if the use of such molecules is essential.
Patients, for their part, must be aware of the risks involved with such treatments in order to turn to other forms of care (alternative medicine, psychotherapy).
