BACKGROUND Older adults are the main recipients of repeat prescriptions for benzodiazepine (BZD) hypnotics. BZDs can impair cognitive function and may not aid sleep when taken continuously for years. This study therefore aimed to determine if withdrawing from BZDs leads to changes in patients' cognitive function, quality of life, mood and sleep. METHOD One hundred and ninety-two long-term use...

BACKGROUND Among senior drivers, benzodiazepines (BZDs) have a documented effect on the risk of road traffic crashes (RTCs). It remains unclear however if BZDs play the same role when considering marital status. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role of marital status in the association between BZD use and injurious RTCs among senior drivers. METHODS Matched case-control study based on f...

BACKGROUND The case-crossover (CXO) and self-controlled case series (SCCS) designs are increasingly used in pharmacoepidemiology. In both, relative risk estimates are obtained within persons, implicitly controlling for time-fixed confounding variables. OBJECTIVES To examine the consistency of relative risk estimates of hip/femur fractures (HFF) associated with the use of benzodiazepines (BZD)...

Introducción: Revisar la evidencia científica sobre las consecuencias derivadas de automedicación con benzodiacepinas (BZD) en personas adultas.
 Método: Revisión exploratoria los artículos recuperados bases datos MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus y Web of Science hasta octubre 2020. La búsqueda se formuló́ mediante descriptores “Self Medication” “Benzodiazepines”, utilizan...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Psychotropics and antiepileptics (AE) are medications commonly used among the aged with cognitive decline or dementia, although they may precipitate further cognitive decline. Our aim was to analyze the relationships between the use of (i) psychotropics (i.e. benzodiazepines or related drugs, BZD, antipsychotics, AP, or antidepressants, AD), opioids (Op), anticholinergics (ACh) ...

Benzodiazepine hypnotics (BZDs) have been a popular treatment for insomnia since the 1960s, but they various problematic side effects, including falls and delirium.1, 2 Non-BZDs were developed right after BZDs are BZD receptor agonists (BZD-RAs) in action. In Japan, two other non-BZD-RA released, namely ramelteon (melatonin agonist [MRA]) 2010 suvorexant (orexin antagonist [ORA]) 2014. Despite ...

BACKGROUND Opioid-substitution treatment (OST) for opioid dependence (OD) has proven effective in retaining patients in treatment and reducing illegal opiate abuse and crime. Consequently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the opioid agonists methadone and buprenorphine as essential drugs for OD that should be available worldwide. In many areas of the world, OD is often associated ...

Chlorothiazide, the first of the diuretic and antihypertensive benzothiadiazines, was introduced into medical practice in 1958. In 1959 it was followed by hydrochlorothiazide, and since then other similar derivatives, some more potent, some longer acting, have been introduced into therapy. While these compounds were originally used for the treatment of edema and congestive heart failure, physic...

BACKGROUND Long-term use of benzodiazepines (BZDs) is common. Not only is such use ineffective, but it also has several risks in addition to dependence, and remains a significant problem among the older population. AIM To systematically review randomised controlled trials that evaluate the effectiveness of minimal interventions to reduce the long-term use of BZDs in primary care. DESIGN AND...

To obtain drugs which are more selective at benzodiazepine (BZD) receptors, design and synthesis of functionally selective ligands for BZD receptors is the current strategy of our pharmaceutical chemistry department. The affinity of newly synthesized ligands is assessed by radioligand receptor binding assays. Based on our previous studies, 2-phenyl-5-oxo-7-methyl-1,3, 4-oxadiazolo[a,2,3]-pyrimi...