Everyone knows that benzodiazepines are a dangerous class of drugs that come with a long list of life-threatening side effects-everyone that is except the doctor, who is prescribing them in ever-increasing numbers.
Worse, they are prescribing the drugs to patients with emphysema and chronic bronchitis in order to help them sleep better-without realising the drugs cause breathing difficulties.
The doctors are ignoring ‘best practice’ guidelines that advise against prescribing the drugs to ‘COPD patients’, as they’re called. In fact, a third of new COPD patients are being prescribed the drug, Canadian researchers have discovered.
The drugs, which are designed to improve mood and insomnia, cause breathing problems, and restrict oxygen levels at night. As COPD patients already have problems breathing, the drugs are the very last thing they should be given, say the researchers.
Benzodiazepines also cause memory loss, reduced alertness and falls.
(Source: Drugs & Aging, 2013; doi: 10.1007/s40266-013-0056-1).
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