Consuming sleeping, anti-anxiety pills could increase Alzheimer's risk

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: If you often pop up pills to control anxiety and improve sleep, beware! A new study suggests that that long-term use of pills may put you at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers have studied the relationship between the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and benzodiazepine exposure and found that people who consume more sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs are at a greater risk.

Dementia currently affects about 36 million people worldwide and this number is expected to double every 20 years, reaching 115 million by 2015. Although the increased risk of dementia has been identified in benzodiazepine users, the nature of this association, whether causal or not, remains unclear.

(With Agency inputs)