Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

scitechdaily.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

331–340 of 400 posts

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#331

Post by shaky-carrousel »

r3trohack3r wrote: post #170
pirate787 wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My family was addicted to benzos by a quack doctor who hands them out like candy. He has many seniors on it long term for "anxiety" and though seniors are at particular risk and are not supposed to use more than 6 months.

I got to see this side of American medicine while in high school. My great aunt unofficially overdosed on a cocktail of drugs prescribed by a group of loosely coordinating doctors. When she passed, her cocktail included 12 prescriptions. One of her doctors had prescribed her medication to lower her blood pressure while another had her on medication to raise it.

Here in the Basque Country we have a public health system, named Osakidetza. Such system implemented, like five years ago, a centralized electronic prescription system. Now doctors in the public system have to use that to make prescriptions which solved all problems caused by bad doctors handwriting, and also solved problems like you mentioned, because the system detects and warns against conflicting medications.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#332

Post by Broken_Hippo »

klodolph wrote: post #320
noduerme wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an aside, what's with all the chiropractors starting cults and self-help websites and running for office calling themselves "doctors" these days? It's like every time I hear about some dirtbag doctor selling a fake covid cure, turns out to be a chiropractor. Chiropractic was a quack gig to begin with, but whatever online university decided to call it a doctoral degree deserves a special place in hell. Still, doesn…

If they're "doctor" it's because they completed a doctorate program, typically a D.C. All people who complete a doctorate program are entitled to be addressed as "doctor". This includes everything from a Ph.D. (the original "doctor"), to M.D.s and D.O.s (medical doctors), and yes, D.C.

There is a glaring difference, though.

The chiropractors aren't having folks call them doctor because they have the right to (as someone with a PhD would do). They are doing it to make folks think they are medical professionals in the same manner as an M.D.

In other words, posing as a medical doctor.

And this kills folks when you consider the sort of scam practices that a lot of chiropractors tend to practice. Honestly, I think it is too bad that we've decided to use the same word for all of these and I'd be happy to change things legally to protect folks from this sort of sham.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#333

Post by sofixa »

shaky-carrousel wrote: post #331
r3trohack3r wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got to see this side of American medicine while in high school. My great aunt unofficially overdosed on a cocktail of drugs prescribed by a group of loosely coordinating doctors. When she passed, her cocktail included 12 prescriptions. One of her doctors had prescribed her medication to lower her blood pressure while another had her on medication to raise it.

Here in the Basque Country we have a public health system, named Osakidetza. Such system implemented, like five years ago, a centralized electronic prescription system. Now doctors in the public system have to use that to make prescriptions which solved all problems caused by bad doctors handwriting, and also solved problems like you mentioned, because the system detects and warns against conflicting medications.

That's awesome! TIL that the Basque country has a separate medical system, i would have thought that would be one of the things alongside foreign affairs and military that wouldn't be devolved to autonomous regions.

In France there's a similar system being rolled out currently, Dossier médical partagé, which is opt-in, and contains all of your diagnosis, tests, prescriptions, so that doctors can quickly see your medical history and present.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#334

Post by bjornsing »

Benzodiazepines seem to have extremely different long term effects in humans depending on genetics and/or personality (or at least so it seems to me).

For example I’ve taken (prescribed) oxazepam and/or diazepam in significant doses every 6/12 hours for 3+ months, and then just suddenly stopped. Never felt the slightest urge to take the diazepam I had left in my bathroom cabinet.

But I’ve heard stories of people becoming severely addicted after consuming less than 10% of that total dosage.

So “your mileage may vary” as they say, and better safe than sorry.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#335

Post by Broken_Hippo »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #225
whatshisface wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People really are bad at DIY medical care... if only we could found a profession dedicated to doing it for them... I propose we call them, "Doctors," from the Latin word for "teacher," by reference to their role in instructing patients on the things they need to know about their health.

Joking aside, if I’m seeing more than one of these hypothetical professions, someone needs to coordinate my care. For myself, I trust me to keep everyone informed. Anyone else wouldn’t have the same incentive to do a good job. After all, I’m the one that suffers the consequences if there’s a mistake. :)

For myself, I trust me to keep everyone informed.

All it takes is one accident or affliction to change this ability. Unresponsive due to a car accident, for example, or simply not having your list of information when you got rushed to the hospital. Confusion due to a high fever. A stroke due to an undiagnosed and hidden condition. Heck, simply age or winding up with a complicated health situation can do it.

In short: You really only can trust yourself if you have enough luck.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#336

Post by markdown »

yodsanklai wrote: post #120
shepardrtc wrote: post #29

I was prescribed benzos because of sleeping issues, but I was also taking phenibut at the same time. After about 3 weeks of using large doses of the benzos every night, I stopped taking them, but a year later I still feel pangs of withdrawal sometimes when I get stressed. It took me another 4 months to get off the phenibut and a month or so after that before my sleep returned to normal. There were months where I mayb…

> I tell everyone to never take benzos for any reasons You can't generalise your experience. Everybody is different and that's the doctor's job to assess whether the benefits outweigh the cost, considering the patient and their problems. Personally, I've been taking benzos very occasionally for 20 years (never more than a few days at a time) and they helped me overcome difficult times. Never had the slightest addicti…

> that's the doctor's job to assess whether the benefits outweigh the cost, considering the patient and their problems.

Have you been hiding under a rock? American doctors are completely corrupt and in the pockets of "big pharma". They've gotten millions of Americans addicted, and caused countless deaths and unimaginable human suffering.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#337

Post by markdown »

SemanticStrengh wrote: post #45

The world of medecine is degenerate. Sustainable, non addictive and non neurotoxic anxiolytics exists: the #1 being opipramol the sigmaergic. emoxypine (which btw cure hangover) and guanfacine are worth mentioning. Maybe beta blockers to some extent. NMDA antagonists such as memantine have side effects but are not neurotoxic to my knowledge and there are milder ones such as mg-lthreonate. afobazole is interesting but…

> Sustainable, non addictive and non neurotoxic anxiolytics exists: the #1 being opipramol

You misspelled kava.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#338

Post by Broken_Hippo »

coconut08 wrote: post #239
jnovek wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. Occasional clonazepam use for panic attacks which are secondary to post-traumatic stress disorder. Never even the tiniest sign of dependence. Sometimes I go months between uses. I am also a chronic pain patient and I worry that benzos are going to get the opioid treatment. There was a period in the mid to late 2010s where patients who depended on opioids for any sort of quality of life were taken off of th…

long term constant exposure to opioids will literally begin cause the pain they purport to solve. If you give a perfectly healthy person with no pain at all opioids for long enough they will be indistinguishable from a person who has an actual chronic pain issue. people should only ever take opioids VERY TEMPORARILY to get through surgeries or other such things. Opioids are not for long term pain management. Same thi…

"people should only ever take opioids VERY TEMPORARILY to get through surgeries or other such things. Opioids are not for long term pain management."

Or realize that people should follow their doctor's advice and realize that opioids definitely can be a part of long-term pain management. Not all long-term use is equal. You can have long-term pain and long-term use of opioids without needing to take them daily just like you can use benzos for years without needing to take them daily for that entire time.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#339

Post by tsol »

coconut08 wrote: post #239
jnovek wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. Occasional clonazepam use for panic attacks which are secondary to post-traumatic stress disorder. Never even the tiniest sign of dependence. Sometimes I go months between uses. I am also a chronic pain patient and I worry that benzos are going to get the opioid treatment. There was a period in the mid to late 2010s where patients who depended on opioids for any sort of quality of life were taken off of th…

long term constant exposure to opioids will literally begin cause the pain they purport to solve. If you give a perfectly healthy person with no pain at all opioids for long enough they will be indistinguishable from a person who has an actual chronic pain issue. people should only ever take opioids VERY TEMPORARILY to get through surgeries or other such things. Opioids are not for long term pain management. Same thi…

Are you being treated with chronic pain by any pain killers? I've heard this before, but it's not exactly as you put it. Chronic opioid use leads to sensitization to pain. This doesn't mean it is equivalent to the pain being treated. In my experiencing minor sensitization to pain in exchange for treating debilitating, disabling, and depression-inducing pain is an amazing trade. I'd do it again without a second thought. It gave me the ability to go to school and start a career, as opposed to being permanently disabled

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#340

Post by hirako2000 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #307
somehnguy wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm completely with you. In my personal experience doctors are extremely hesitant to prescribe these drugs. I saw multiple doctors for years about anxiety issues and the most I got prescribed was an antihistamine. I also suffer from chronic back pain due to a genetic issue and it's been pretty much impossible for me to get a prescription that does anything for it. I don't think people are lying about their experience…

I have a suspicion that many people who are getting these long-term benzo prescriptions aren’t just going to a random doctor and walking out with huge prescriptions. I think the vast majority of doctors wouldn’t dare risk their job or career like this. I suspect there’s a lot of word of mouth references where patients are telling their friends which doctors prescribe which medications and giving guidance about what t…

If those doctors were outliers, it would have been very simple and quick to detect the anomalies. And, I went to a random doctor, twice in the last couple of years, both prescribed me SSRIs including two psychotic substances. I have been fine without taking them. Anecdotal, but perhaps it attenuates your suspicions, mine is that it's pretty generalised.
Post reply on HN