Science Media Centre

Long term use of benzodiazepines widely prescribed for anxiety and insomnia, such as Valium and Xanax, is associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, suggests a new study published today in the British Medical Journal.  The team of French and Canadian researchers identified almost 1,800 cases of Alzheimer’s disease over a period of […]

Drugs prescribed to treat anxiety, depression and insomnia may increase patients’ risk of being involved in motor vehicle accidents, according to a recent study. The Taiwanese research, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, compared medication use between individuals who had been in a motor vehicle accident and a group of age matched controls […]

New research has found that several commonly prescribed sleeping pills are associated with a more than fourfold increased risk of death, even among those taking relatively low doses.  However, overseas experts and New Zealand authorities are noting that the link may be more complicated than it appears. The new study, published in the journal BMJ […]