The deadly secret behind these innocent-looking little pills
They seem harmless enough — those little pills that can help with anxiety or allow you to get some sleep at night.
But they are among the most dangerous drugs you can take — especially if you’re over 65.
And they’ve got a rap sheet a mile long. “Charges” include falls and hip fractures, car accidents, memory problems and fatigue. And that’s true even if you take a very small dose.
If that’s not bad enough, a recent study has found that tranquilizers and sleeping pills can significantly increase your risk of dying prematurely.
And that’s not the first time researchers have made that deadly connection.
Unfortunately, they’re highly addictive. So when you stop, you may feel even worse than you did before you started.
But millions of people have found a way to kick these lethal drugs out of their medicine cabinet.
And doing that might just save your life.
“Deprescribe” is what Dr. Cara Tannenbaum calls it.
Dr. Tannenbaum wants older patients to stop taking these dangerous drugs for insomnia and anxiety.
She’s a specialist in geriatric pharmacy at the University of Montreal, and she’s started a campaign to get people off these meds.
And there are a lot of serious reasons to do that.
“People taking sleeping pills are five times more likely to report problems with concentration and memory,” she said.
But that’s just the top of the list.
Dr. Tannenbaum said that those who pop these pills are also twice as likely to suffer a hip fracture or get involved in a car accident. And that can happen the day after taking them!
And for a fun side effect, if you’re taking one of these meds you also run the risk of suffering from urinary incontinence.
These drugs are called benzodiazepines (benzos) and Z drugs. They have familiar brand names like Ambien, Ambien CR, Intermezzo, Valium and Xanax.
Dr. Tannenbaum’s campaign comes at the same time that a frightening new study was released. Researchers in Great Britain found that people who take tranquilizers and sleeping pills are over three times more likely to die prematurely than those who don’t. And researchers weren’t just looking at seniors, but people as young as 16!
The British study may be new, but those findings aren’t. Two years ago researchers said that these “hypnotic” drugs increased the risk of death by four times. And that was true even if you take less than 18 pills a year!
But for those over 65, the risks can be even higher.
Dr. Tannenbaum explained that’s because your metabolism changes as you age. Plus, if you’re taking other kinds of drugs, that can increase the risks as well.
Also, many older patients believe they need more sleep than they really do. Most in their 80s, she said, do fine with just 6 hours of sleep a night. So there’s no need to be taking a risky drug for that so-called perfect 8 hours of shut-eye.
It’s also quite normal for older people to get up during the night. You don’t need a med for that, either.
But, as I said, these drugs are highly addictive. “People believe they can’t function without them,” Dr. Tannenbaum said.
She decided to do something about that. So she created a brochure, one especially designed for older people who may be hooked on these meds and not even realize it.
Through a pharmacy chain in Montreal, she identified 300 people who agreed to share their medical records with her. The brochure was customized to talk about the specific drugs they were taking, and suggested ways to wean themselves off these meds over several months, allowing blood levels of the drugs to drop slowly.
And it worked.
“Just from reading a brochure, one in four patients got off a medication they’d been taking for, in some cases, 10 to 30 years,” she said.
People, Dr. Tannenbaum said, are very receptive when you give them the “evidence.”
And you can read about that “evidence” here.
Even if you’re not taking any of these drugs, feel free to share this link with a friend or relative who may be.
Especially if they’re over 65.
I’m sure you’ve seen the ads for these “nutritional” drinks with dancing bottles kicking out the “bad” food from a refrigerator.
And certainly, if you’ve ever visited someone in a nursing home or care facility, it looks like they have enough of them to stock a fallout shelter.
So are these liquids the easy nutrition the ads say they are? What if someone — from a kid to an elderly parent — won’t eat? Is the solution to be found in these handy little containers?
By no means. They’re certainly no substitute for real food — no matter how easy they are to grab from the fridge. And now, experts are warning how lacking in nutrition such drinks really are.
The latest to sound the alarm was the American Geriatrics Society.
In its most recent meeting in May, it declared that these beverages are little more than “liquid candy.” And that they should only be given to someone who is very sick, malnourished and in a hospital.
What it didn’t mention, however, are some of the other ingredients in these products — things that no one should be consuming. Especially if they’re malnourished and very sick.
These include additives like soy protein isolate and milk protein concentrate. All are forms of MSG — something that can be dangerous to the very young and very old. Most of these drinks also contain carrageenan, an ingredient that can cause inflammation in the colon. That’s definitely something that a malnourished person doesn’t need.
But what about the very sick, the people this geriatric group says these drinks should be reserved for?
I can’t imagine why you would want to give the very worst form of nutrition to those who need it most, especially when there are other options.
Right now, “real” meal replacements are available for those on a feeding tube or needing a liquid diet. So the idea of giving these patients “liquid candy” shouldn’t even be on anyone’s radar.
Sources:
“Weaning older patients off of sleeping pills” Paula Span, July 2, 2014, The New York Times, newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com
“New Study Shows Increased Risk Of Death With Sleeping Pills And Tranquilizers” Worst Pills Best Pills Newsletter, July 2014 worstpills.org
