OBJECTIVE To determine whether benzodiazepines are associated with an increased risk of hip fracture. DESIGN Case-control study. PARTICIPANTS All incident cases of hip fracture not related to traffic accidents or cancer in patients over 65 years of age. 245 cases were matched to 817 controls. SETTING Emergency department of a university hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Exposure to benzod...

Introduction The GABAA receptor of mammalian brain is a ligand-gated chloride ion channel and the site of action of a variety of pharmacologically and clinically important drugs. Thus, electrophysiological experiments in many different systems have indicated that the anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, muscle relaxant and sedative hypnotic benzodiazepines like diazepam or flunitrazepam enhance and some...

BACKGROUND Benzodiazepines have a hypnotic/sedative effect through the inhibitory action of γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor. Flumazenil antagonizes these effects via competitive inhibition, so it has been used to reverse the effect of benzodiazepines. Recently, flumazenil has been reported to expedite recovery from propofol/remifentanil and sevoflurane/remifentanil anesthesia without benzod...

Several experimental studies have shown a negative influence of benzodiazepines on driving skills. The objective of this study is to study the relationship between the blood concentration of benzodiazepines and the influence on performance in field sobriety tests. A retrospective case file evaluation was conducted to select cases of drivers, tested positive for benzodiazepines only in the perio...

OBJECTIVE This study compared the efficacy and tolerability of clonazepam with other benzodiazepines in patients with anxiety disorders. METHODS Inclusion criteria were as follows: age >20 years, diagnosis of anxiety disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) criteria, taking only one type of antidepressant, and presc...

BACKGROUND Acute psychotic illness, especially when associated with agitated or violent behaviour, can require urgent pharmacological tranquillisation or sedation. In several countries, clinicians often use benzodiazepines (either alone or in combination with antipsychotics) for this outcome. OBJECTIVES To estimate the effects of benzodiazepines, alone or in combination with antipsychotics, w...

Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse may abuse benzodiazepines and develop violent dyscontrol when using them. A total of 370 veterans were compared by substance abuse diagnosis (50%), benzodiazepine use (36%), and their interaction on 1-year outcomes after inpatient discharge. Substance abusers were less likely to be prescribed benzodiazepines (26% vs. 45%). N...

Intracisternally administered cholecystokinin produced long lasting hypothermia in mice, and the hypothermic effect was significantly antagonized by benzodiazepines like chlordiazepoxide and diazepam and by a benzodiazepine antagonist, Ro 15-1788, that were administered intraperitoneally. Proglumide, a cholecystokinin antagonist, failed to prevent the hypothermia induced by cholecystokinin at a...

Aside from their pharmacokinetic properties, e.g. their speed of action and the duration of residual effects, benzodiazepines are still considered as equivalent in terms of their effects on cognition. Here we review evidence suggesting that certain benzodiazepines, especially lorazepam, differ in a number of respects, in particular with respect to their effects on cognition. We focus this revie...

BACKGROUND Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) for their sedative and anxiolytic effects. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between benzodiazepine use and sleep quality in residents of RACFs. METHODS A cross-sectional study involving 383 participants was conducted in six Australian RACFs. Night-time sleep quality, da...