Washington, October 6 (ANI): Many people over 65 are prescribed benzodiazepines to treat the symptoms of anxiety and sleep disorders.

A new study, however, found that the risk of developing dementia increased by 50 percent for subjects who consumed benzodiazepines during the follow-up period, compared with those who had never used these molecules.

Although this study does not confirm a cause and effect relationship, as is the case for all epidemiological research, the researchers recommend increased vigilance when using these molecules.

The prescription of these molecules is widespread, especially in France and other countries such as Canada, Spain and Australia.

Consumption of benzodiazepines is often chronic, with many people taking them over a period (often several years) that significantly exceeds recommended good practice guidelines that suggest limiting the duration to two to four weeks.

The effects of benzodiazepines on cognition have been the subject of several studies with much-debated results.

Recently, researchers from Inserm unit 657 "Pharmacoepidemiology and the assessment of the impact of health products on the population", 897 "Inserm Research Centre into epidemiology and biostatistics" and 708 "Neuroepidemiology", in collaboration with the Universite de Bordeaux, analysed a cohort of elderly individuals to improve knowledge of the relationship between the use of benzodiazepines and the development of dementia.

In an attempt to counteract the bias that may have restricted the scope of previous studies, the researchers completed several comparative analyses using data from the PAQUID cohort, covering 3777 individuals from between 1897 and 1989.

The main study focused on a sample of 1063 individuals from the PAQUID cohort (mean age of 78), who were free from dementia symptoms at the beginning of the follow-up period and who had not consumed any benzodiazepines prior to the fifth year in the follow-up period.

Out of the 1063 individuals, 95 used benzodiazepines from the fifth year onwards, thus defining two populations: those "exposed to benzodiazepines" and those "not exposed to benzodiazepines".

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Benzodiazepine use doubles dementia risk in over 65s