Popular Anxiety Meds May Not Lead To Dementia After All, University of Washington Study

The connection between benzodiazepines and dementia has not been especially clear in recent years. Last year, a widely publicized study again found that benzodiazepines–Ativan, Valium, and Xanax–which are often used to treat anxiety and sleep problems, were linked to increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease in elderly people. This week, another study was published, finding that in the highest doses the same meds are not linked to any increased risk for dementia. And if there is a risk, the authors say, it may be because people with the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer’s, which happen to be anxiety and insomnia, may be treated with the very drugs in question. Which makes the connection all the more difficult to tease apart.