Posted by SLS on December 31, 2015, at 11:58:43
In reply to Re: Long-Term Use of Benzodiazepines May Be Linked to, posted by stan_the_man70 on December 31, 2015, at 10:43:28
Just to present an alternative perspective:
After so many years of skimming through literature, I have learned to have both respect and a need to scrutinize reports coming from Internet forums dedicated to activism against psychotropic drug use. I am sure that in some cases, people forget how bad their memory was before they began BZD treatment, and don't acknowledge the progression of the base illness over time. I think it becomes a matter of developing a newfound focus or hypervigilence on worrying about cognitive status. I have seen this happen with people who have had ECT.
Do the BZD users you read about discontinue the drug specifically because of memory issues? Do you think the withdrawal process might contribute to residual memory deficits?
Again, I do respect anecdotal reports - even from Internet forums. With several issues, the public observed adverse reactions before the clinical studies recognized them or fully admitted them.
If you could provide me with a link to a BZD forum, I would like to take a look at it. I really know very little about this stuff.
One other comment. You said something to the effect of allowing illness to heal over time rather than treat it acutely with medication. I think that this is an optimistic position to take, but does not reflect what I have read and learned from my doctors about GAD and other Axis I anxiety disorders. Unless this healing can be tested through scientific studies, to rely on the hope for spontaneous healing represents one hell of a gamble.
It is so frustrating to know so little when the need to treat is so big. Right now, many different paradigms must be considered and scrutinized.
Having major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or anxiety disorders increase one's risk of contracting Alzheimer's Dementia. The two mood illnesses are only infrequently treated with chronic BZDs. These seem to be biomarkers independent of BZD use. It would be instructive to follow people with anxiety disorders who have not used BZD treatment to see what their risk for developing Alzheimer's would be.
Again, I have a great respect for the authors of the study we have been reviewing that they should include in their conclusions verbiage that suggests that correlation does not equal causation.
- Scott
Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1085037
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20151225/msgs/1085064.html