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Letters Benzodiazepines and dementia

Research paper does not show causal link between benzodiazepine use and diagnosis of dementia

BMJ 2012; 345 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e7984 (Published 26 November 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;345:e7984
  1. Ian T S Coyle-Gilchrist, neurology registrar and academic clinical fellow1,
  2. Lorraine F Peck, haematology registrar2,
  3. James B Rowe, reader in cognitive neurology and consultant neurologist1
  1. 1University of Cambridge, Herchel Smith Building, Forvie Site, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0SZ, UK
  2. 2Hillingdon Hospital, Uxbridge UB8 3NN, UK
  1. itsc2{at}medschl.cam.ac.uk

The prospective population based study by Billioti de Gage and colleagues shows an association between benzodiazepine use and the subsequent diagnosis of dementia but it does not show causality.1

Sleep disturbance is a common feature of many neurodegenerative diseases and may precede dementia by years.2 For example, the 10 year risk of a …

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