Benzodiazepines emerged in the 60s and were a revolution, since they achieved the same effects as barbiturates, but without running the risk that these “drugs” posed.
We are talking about well-known and widely used drugs such as:
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Valium
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Orphidal
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Lorazepam
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diazepam
However, what at the time was a great advance in favor of health, is now a danger. Because quantity is seriously affecting quality.
For this reason, more and more experts are warning of a possible excessive consumption of benzodiazepines in our country. A consumption that seems to have increased due to the pandemic by , which has caused a notable increase in cases of anxiety, depression and insomnia.
An award-winning studio
This is what the authors of a study have concluded, which has received the prize for the best communication from Internal Resident Physicians of the
The main objective was to find out the percentage of patients older than 65 years enrolled in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) with a potentially inappropriate prescription for benzodiazepines, from October 2020 to October 2021.
The secondary objectives of the study were:
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Know the demographic profile of the population according to age and sex
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The most frequently prescribed benzodiazepines according to their half-life (short, intermediate and long)
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The percentage of patients with, in addition to a potentially inappropriate prescription of benzodiazepines, another drug prescribed with a similar effect (antidepressants, hypnotics and neuroleptics).
Anxiety and insomnia, the main causes
In relation to the demographic profile, the researchers observed that the prescription is more frequent among women, to the point that they represent 72.1% of the total.
But in terms of the age at which they were prescribed, the study did not identify major differences:
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50.5% in patients between 65-75 years
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49.5% in patients older than 75 years.
Regarding the reason for prescription, they detected that the two most frequent reasons were:
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Anxiety and insomnia, with 51.3% and 51.9% respectively,
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The (36.1%)
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Agitation (7.2%).
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Only 14.4% of prescriptions are due to other unrecorded reasons.
Regarding the type of benzodiazepine prescribed, they were:
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Those with an intermediate half-life are the most frequently prescribed, up to 50.9%
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Those with a short half-life, in 43.7%
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And the least prescribed were those with a long half-life, in 15.3% of patients.
In addition, they observed that up to 11.5% of the patients had at least two benzodiazepines prescribed at the same time.
Regarding whether these patients presented associations with other psychoactive drugs, the results were that:
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41.3% were under treatment with antidepressants
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8.2% with hypnotics
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4.3% with antipsychotics.
The danger of benzodiazepines in those over 65 years of age
As we have seen, it is those over 65 who consume the most this type of tranquilizing drugs. With the danger that this entails since this age group is the most susceptible to the adverse effects produced by benzodiazepines.
In this sense, the Dr. Cayetana De Miguel de Juanesone of the authors of the study, warns that:
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“Excessive consumption in the elderly population, together with use without supervision by the doctor, carries risks derived from its side effects such as sedation, dizziness, drowsiness or, among others, which can worsen the baseline situation of the elderly, harming their quality of life and increasing its morbidity”.
Alternatives to this type of drugs
In addition, “there is a significant rejection by patients to suspend these drugs, despite explaining to them that they create a lot of tolerance and a lot of dependence.”
To avoid reaching this type of situation, De Miguel believes that:
“The use of non-pharmacological measures to treat the symptoms reported by patients should be promoted.”
For example:
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optimize hygienic-dietary measures of sleep
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relaxation exercises for anxiety
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Tools for managing emotions.
However, “the problem with these possible tools, as with many other aspects, is time.”
And it is that addressing these recommendations takes more minutes than we have per patient.
“However, we should not think that it is wasted time, but rather time invested in reducing side effects and polypharmacy.”
Can they create addiction?
The authors are also committed to establishing a benzodiazepine withdrawal protocol jointly with nursing and limiting prolonged use, avoiding the chronic pattern in the electronic prescription and reviewing this medication on a monthly basis.
With this work, the authors also want to make the population, as well as professionals, aware of “the problem of this excessive consumption that, in some patients, can be considered addiction”, according to Dr. Cayetana De Miguel de Juanes.