M. Trimble
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By: Routledge
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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Disorders & Diseases -> Epilepsy
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> Psychopharmacology
Subjects -> Medicine -> Internal Medicine -> Neurology -> General AAS
Editorial Review:
Benzodiazepines are powerful psychoactive drugs that were first approved for use in the 1960s. They have sedative/hypnotic, anxiolytic and anticonvulsive activity. The most common indication for their use is insomnia, particularly in the elderly when caused by anxiety or depression, pain or congestive heart disease. They are also useful adjuvants to neuroleptics in agitation and psycholsis. They are among the most potent antiepileptic drugs available, with activity against most seizure types and particularly useful in status epilepticus and refractory epilepsy.
The benzodiazepines do have behavioral and cognitive side-effects, some patients exhibit tolerance with long-term use, and there can be withdrawal problems in cases of over-rapid dose reduction or cessation. They have been famously associated with dependency, suicide and misuse. These negative effects have been massively publicized over the years with the result that a public and professional prejudice against their use has developed. Some of the criticisms leveled against the benzodiazepines are now considered to have been poorly informed and over-zealous.
The book examines this important group of drugs in detail, looking objectively at their pharmacological properties, activity, cognitive and behavioral effects, use in sleep disorders, anxiety, adult and childhood epilepsy, movement disorders, and at the prospects for future research and development. The case is made for their continued use with proper diagnosis and careful management in certain conditions for which other drugs do not offer the same value.
