When prescribing a benzodiazepine, it is important to fully inform patients of the drug's potential side effects and to maintain the lowest effective dose for the shortest period of time. Alternatives to prescribing benzodiazepines include antidepressant medications, exercise or psychotherapy. Elderly clients experiencing memory impairment may be embarrassed to mention the problem. Cases of transient global amnesia and 'traveller’s amnesia' have also been reported in association with benzodiazepines, the latter in individuals who have taken the drug, often in the middle of the night, to induce sleep while travelling. Individuals taking benzodiazepines are often unaware of their memory impairment unless it is pointed out to them. Memory impairment is more likely in benzodiazepines that have a high benzodiazepine-receptor affinity, that accumulate in the body, that are given in high doses or intravenously, or that are eliminated slowly. Information stored prior to the ingestion of a benzodiazepine is not affected. 1 BZDs are used for numerous indications, including anxiety, insomnia, muscle relaxation, relief from spasticity caused by central nervous system pathology, and epilepsy. The memory loss may occur because events are not transferred from short-term memory to long-term memory and thus not consolidated into memory storage. Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are one of the most widely prescribed pharmacologic agents in the United States (more than 112 million prescriptions in 2007). The effects of benzodiazepines on short-term memory and information processing. Following the ingestion of a benzodiazepine, short-term memory is not affected, but long-term memory is impaired. Anterograde amnesia appears a common effect of all benzodiazepines although. The development of non-sedative anxiolytics and specific benzodiazepine antagonists provides the tools for assessing the contribution of sedative and anxiolytic properties of drugs to their amnesic effects.Benzodiazepines, shown to affect memory, can produce anterograde amnesia (i.e., a loss of memory for events occurring forward in time). The explanatory value of modern theories of memory for research on benzodiazepine-induced amnesia, and the research potential of the surgical setting are outlined. Evidence that the benzodiazepines prevent affective and cognitive processing under general anaesthesia and decrease traumatic postoperative recall of intra-operative events is reviewed. Apparently, this impairment results from disruption of the transfer of information from temporary, short-term memory to some type of longer term memory storage (the consolidation phase). Amnesia is more profound for cutaneous-tactile and auditory than for visual stimuli, but actual surgical events, or emotionally laden material, are more likely to be recalled than artificial stimuli. In most studies, the ability of patients to learn new information is impaired (anterograde amnesia) after benzodiazepine therapy. Retrograde amnesia has not been conclusively demonstrated. The degree of anterograde amnesia is a function of the drug, the route of administration and the population of patients being assessed. But even temporary memory loss can cause emotional distress. Its possible to have a second episode of transient global amnesia, but its extremely rare to have more than two. However, these drugs come with the detrimental side effect of anterograde amnesia, or the inability to form new memories. Its not a risk factor for stroke or epilepsy. Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are anxiolytic drugs that act on GABAa receptors and are used to treat anxiety disorders. routes to patients undergoing surgical or diagnostic procedures is reviewed. Transient global amnesia has no direct complications. Research on the amnesic effects of diazepam, midazolam, lorazepam and flunitrazepam, administered via oral, i.v. Anaesthetic practice is the only clinical context in which amnesia is a valued property of benzodiazepine drugs, since decreased recall considerably enhances patient tolerance and acceptance or surgical and diagnostic procedures.
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