Posted on 02/03/2023 2:05:00 PM PST by ConservativeMind
A new study shows that sleep medications increase the risk of dementia for people who are white. But the type and quantity of the medication may be factors in explaining the higher risk.
Approximately 3,000 older adults without dementia were followed over an average duration of nine years.
During the study, 20% developed dementia. White participants who "often" or "almost always" took sleep medications had a 79% higher chance of developing dementia compared to those who "never" or "rarely" used them. Among Black participants—whose consumption of sleep aids was markedly lower—frequent users had a likelihood of developing dementia similar to those who abstained or rarely used the medications.
The researchers found that people who are white, at 7.7%, were three times as likely as people who are Black, at 2.7%, to take sleep medications "often" (five to 15 times a month), or "almost always" (16 times a month to daily). Whites were almost twice as likely to use benzodiazepines, like Halcion, Dalmane and Restoril, prescribed for chronic insomnia.
People who are white were also 10 times as likely to take trazodone, an antidepressant known by the trade names of Desyrel and Oleptro, which may also be prescribed as a sleep aid. And they were more than seven times as likely to take "Z-drugs," such as Ambien, a so-called sedative-hypnotic.
Patients with poor sleep should hesitate before considering medications, according to Leng.
"The first step is to determine what kind of sleep issues patients are dealing with. A sleep test may be required if sleep apnea is a possibility," she said. "If insomnia is diagnosed, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) is the first-line treatment. If medication is to be used, melatonin might be a safer option, but we need more evidence to understand its long-term impact on health."
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Try to find an alternate method or a root cause, and treat that.
Brandon used a lot of sleep meds . . . ?
melatonin doesn’t seem to be mentioned
I love relora.
Meditation, no afternoon caffeine, and a magnesium drink.
Maybe watch Kristen Stewart’s acting…
Yes it is mentioned at the end of the excerpt.
For some, like me, melatonin is the Devil.
Sit straight up, heart pounding and sweating bullets.
From the write up:
“If medication is to be used, melatonin might be a safer option…”
Melatonin isn’t a drug, per se. Your body naturally produces melatonin. But I understand taking it long term has its effect, as in you body stops producing it naturally, so it ends up playing havoc with your circadian rhythm.
I have been seeing lots of these articles lately, for all kinds of different sleeping aids.
This is the third ‘ambien” article I have seen this week, last month it was
I am guessing there is some new wonder mRna weight loss drug that is about to be released which has a side effect of helping you sleep well at night.
I must of dozed off before I reached the end
Cocaine during the day, Ambien, cocktails, and melatonin at night...
They should do a study why people who do government studies are so stupid.
Ah the Rick James prescription!
Melatonin was mentioned as an alternative to the prescription sleep aids.
I take a 1mg melatonin most nights. Just enough to get me to sleep.
I never heard of relora. I just looked it up and read that:
“The active ingredients of Relora, especially the Magnolia officinalis bark have been shown to have properties (6) that act in a similar way to benzodiazepines.”
I wonder if that would have the same kind of dementia risk as the benzodiazepines.
Source:
https://www.restartmed.com/relora/
Yes, they should.
I wonder how those meds stack up against the effect of chronic lack of sleep on developing cognitive disorders?
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