Dementia, Pneumonia Lurking

[[Ne...]]

:sick:The main cause of dependency in older people, dementia currently affects about 36 million people worldwide. This number is expected to double every 2 decades because of population growth, reaching an estimated 115 million in 2050.

 

The study found that benzodiazepine use for 3 months or more was associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease of up to 51%. The longer the exposure to benzodiazepines, the greater the risk of Alzheimer's. Long-acting benzodiazepines were also found to increase risk more than short-acting benzodiazepines. "It is now crucial to encourage physicians to carefully balance the benefits and risks when initiating or renewing a treatment with benzodiazepines and related products in elderly patients," they add.

Taking benzodiazepines may raise the risk of pneumonia as well as the likelihood of dying from the disease, researchers found.

 

As a class, the sedatives were associated with more than a 50% increased chance of developing pneumonia (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.42 to 1.67, P<0.001), Robert Sanders, PhD, of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, and colleagues reported online in Thorax.

 

They also were tied to a 22% higher risk of 30-day and a 32% higher risk of long-term mortality, the researchers reported.

 

 

Another good reason to stop.  Doctors seem to be ignorant about the long term consequences of the drugs they prescribe like candy.  Mention dementia and pneumonia to your doctor. Someone has to listen.  How have they managed to hide this for so long?  My lungs are still sore.  After 11 weeks cold turkey. 

 

[[ma...]]

Is it this study you're talking about?

 

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/benzodiazepine-use-may-raise-risk-alzheimers-disease-201409107397

 

These drugs just sound worse and worse... what is this about being stored in body fat?

[[Ne...]]

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/09/29/benzodiazepine-xanax-linked-to-increased-risk-of-developing-dementia/45276.html

 

This was one of the articles that I quoted.  So we have increased risk of pneumonia, Alzheimer's and dementia. Plus from a Canadian info booklet: 5x increased risk of memory and concentration problems, 4x increased risk of daytime fatigue, 2x increase risk of fall and fractures of the hip and wrist, 2x increased risk of having a motor vehicle accident while driving and problems with urine loss with long term (0. I developed lymphedema in my right arm after being on lorazepam for one year. It is now gone. Also, the neuropathy in hands and feet much improved.

 

No medical professional warned me about any of these possibilities. Did yours? 

[[ma...]]

Dr. Oz talked about the benzo link to alzheimer's on his show today.  He said he has been concerned about these drugs.  He said the longer they are taken, the greater the risk.  The guest he had on the show talking about the drug, stressed that they should not be taken longer than a week, a month the longest. 

 

This was very alarming to me to see this on TV today.  I knew all this, but to actually hear Dr. Oz acknowledging it was upsetting.  Finally, a doctor talking about the dangers of the drug on national TV.

 

Mama