Benzodiazepines: indications and side effects
Benzodiazepines: indications and side effects Benzodiazepines , such as Valium ® for example, have long been the most widely used sleeping pills , these psychotropic drugs are actually anxiolytics that also have an effect on sleep disorders . Benzodiazepines owe their name to their common chemical structure: the benzodiazepine ring. This barbaric term is the chemical name for a cyclic structure that combines a benzene molecule (benzo-) and a molecule containing two nitrogen atoms (-diaz-). The names of the molecules in the benzodiazepine class (International Nonproprietary Names or INNs) all have the same suffix "-azepam". Indications for benzodiazepines By binding to a specific receptor, benzodiazepines facilitate the action of a neurotransmitter, GABA (gamma-amino-butyric acid), on its receptor in the brain. GABA decreases the excitability of the central nervous sy...