- Academics say side effects could be so harmful doctors should avoid prescribing them
- Scientists believe sleeping pills may interfere with neurotransmitters in the brain, possibly causing dementia
- Doctors made 10million sleeping pill prescriptions last year
Around 1.5m Britons are thought to be taking sleeping pills at any one time, with over 10million prescriptions handed out every year |
Sleeping
pills taken by more than a million Britons significantly increase the risk of
dementia, researchers warn today.
Pensioners
who used benzodiazepines – which include temazepam and diazepam – were 50 per
cent more likely to succumb to the devastating illness, a Harvard University
study found.
Academics
believe the side effects of the drugs may be so harmful that doctors should
avoid prescribing them.
Around
1.5million Britons are believed to be taking the pills at any one time and more
than 10million prescriptions are handed out a year.
The
researchers also estimate that up to 8 per cent of the over-65s have used them
within the last few years to treat insomnia or anxiety.
But there
is growing evidence that they have serious side effects and a number of studies
have linked them to falls, memory problems, panic attacks and early death.
Academics
from Harvard University in the US and the University of Bordeaux in France
discovered that over-65s who had taken the drugs within the last 15 years were
50 per cent more likely to get dementia.
The drugs
can only be obtained by a prescription. They work by changing the way messages
are transmitted to the brain, which induces a calming effect.
But
scientists believe that at the same time they may be interfering with chemicals
in the brain known as neurotransmitters, which may be causing dementia.
Professor
Tobias Kurth, who works jointly at Harvard University’s School of Public Health
and the University of Bordeaux, said: ‘There is a potential that these drugs
are really harmful.
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‘If it is
really true that these drugs are causing dementia that will be huge. But one
single study does not necessarily show everything that is going on, so there is
no need to panic.
‘These
drugs certainly have their benefits and if you prescribe them in a way they
should be prescribed they treat very well.’
The study,
published today in the British Medical Journal, involved 1,063 men and women
over the age of 65 for a period of 20 years in south west France. Initially
none of the participants had dementia and no one was taking benzodiazepines.
Risk: Academics believe the side-effects of some sleeping tablets could be so harmful doctors should avoid prescribing them |
The
researchers followed them up after 15 years and found that 253 had developed dementia.
They worked out that out of 100 not taking the drug, 3.2 would be expected to
get the illness.
But among
100 patients on these drugs, 4.8 would get dementia – a significantly higher
proportion. The patients had taken the pills at least once – over the course of
a week or so – at some point in the previous 15 years.
The study
concluded: ‘Considering the extent to which benzodiazepines are prescribed and
the number of potential adverse effects, indiscriminate widespread use should
be cautioned against.’
In the last
20 years the number of prescriptions for benzodiazepines has fallen by 40 per
cent, largely due to concerns that patients were becoming addicted.
But they
remain one of the most commonly used drugs and there are fears some patients
are taking them for far too long.
A spokesman
for the Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘This is the not the first time it has been
suggested that these drugs could have a negative impact on cognition. With this
long-term study adding to the evidence, it emphasises how important it is we
properly monitor how treatments for anxiety or sleep problems are used.’
A study
last year from Cardiff University found that Britons who had used the pills
were 60 per cent more at risk from dementia. The study of 1,160 men aged 45 to
85 found that 9 per cent had taken them at least once over the last two
decades.
Earlier
this year American researchers found the drugs heightened the risk of early
death. Their study showed that even patients taking between four and 18 pills a
year were 3.6 times more likely to die prematurely. Those on more than 132
pills a year were 5.3 times more likely to die.
Dementia is
one of the biggest burdens facing the NHS. Some experts believe the cost of
caring for patients will rise to £35billion annually within the next two
decades.
There are
currently 800,000 Britons with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
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