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Benzodiazepines: Difference between revisions
>Keys I added general information, emphasizing how benzos alone are rarely deadly, if at all. Meanwhile once coingestants are involved, particularly GABAergics (due to GABAa activity) such as barbiturates and most commonly, alcohol, the risk for life-threatening respiratory depression can significantly increase. Furthermore, I replaced missing or (one) incorrect citation/s with reliable sources and added IEEE in-text citations, and the corresponding full references. |
>David Hedlund →Toxicity and harm potential: File:HarmCausedByDrugsTable.svg |
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==Toxicity and harm potential== | ==Toxicity and harm potential== | ||
[[File:HarmCausedByDrugsTable.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Table from the 2010 ISCD study ranking various drugs (legal and illegal) based on statements by drug-harm experts. Benzodiazepines were found to be the 10th most dangerous drug overall.<ref name="Nutt_2010">{{cite journal | vauthors = Nutt DJ, King LA, Phillips LD | title = Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis | journal = Lancet | volume = 376 | issue = 9752 | pages = 1558–1565 | date = November 2010 | pmid = 21036393 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6 | s2cid = 5667719 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.690.1283 }}</ref>]] | |||
[[File:harmchart.png|thumb|right|300px|Radar plot showing relative physical harm, social harm, and dependence of benzodiazepines in comparison to other drugs.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=((Nutt, D.)), ((King, L. A.)), ((Saulsbury, W.)), ((Blakemore, C.)) | journal=The Lancet | title=Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse | volume=369 | issue=9566 | pages=1047–1053 | date=24 March 2007 | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673607604644 | issn=0140-6736 | doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60464-4}}</ref>]] | [[File:harmchart.png|thumb|right|300px|Radar plot showing relative physical harm, social harm, and dependence of benzodiazepines in comparison to other drugs.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=((Nutt, D.)), ((King, L. A.)), ((Saulsbury, W.)), ((Blakemore, C.)) | journal=The Lancet | title=Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse | volume=369 | issue=9566 | pages=1047–1053 | date=24 March 2007 | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673607604644 | issn=0140-6736 | doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60464-4}}</ref>]] | ||
Benzodiazepines have a low toxicity relative to dose and are considered to be non-lethal | Benzodiazepines have a [[Toxicity::low toxicity]] relative to dose, and are considered to be effectively non-lethal on their own.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=((Mandrioli, R.)), ((Mercolini, L.)), ((Raggi, M. A.)) | journal=Current Drug Metabolism | title=Benzodiazepine metabolism: an analytical perspective | volume=9 | issue=8 | pages=827–844 | date= October 2008 | issn=1389-2002 | doi=10.2174/138920008786049258}}</ref> However, their potential [[Toxicity::potentially [[respiratory depression|lethality]] increases significantly when mixed with [[depressants]] like [[alcohol]] or [[opioids]]]]. | ||
It is strongly recommended that one use [[responsible drug use|harm reduction practices]] when using this class of substances. | |||
It is strongly recommended | |||
===Tolerance and addiction potential=== | ===Tolerance and addiction potential=== | ||