(HealthDay News)— People who regularly drink to excess are also likely to use benzodiazepines, a new study finds.
These drugs — like Valium (diazepam), Xanax (alprazolam), Klonopin (clonazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), and Restoril (temazepam) — are used to treat depression and anxiety.
But when heavy drinkers use them, benzodiazepines (sometimes referred to as “benzos”) may increase the risk for overdoses and accidents and make psychiatric conditions worse, researchers warn.
They found that people who abused alcohol were 15% more likely to take benzodiazepines than moderate drinkers or teetotalers.
For the study, researchers collected data on more than 2 million patients listed in the Kaiser Permanente database. (…)