Why Do Sleep Aids Cause More Hip Fractures in the Elderly?
Researchers aren’t quite sure why, but the elderly who take certain types of sedatives and sleeping aids are more likely to break their hip than those who don’t. Sedatives in the benzodiazepine class were found to be associated with 24% more hip fractures in a recent study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine. What’s more, fractures were much more likely to occur in the first two weeks after benzodiazepines were first taken and decreased thereafter. While establishing a pattern between the sleep aids and hip fractures, researchers were puzzled as to the cause of such breaks. They said more study is warranted to draw the cause-and-effect relationship. advertisement For now, pending more study, patients should be closely monitored in the period immediately after starting to take benzodiazepines, according to the research team led by Dr. Stephen B. Soumerai of Harvard Medical School. “Patients should receive increased surveillance and support mechanisms during the beginning of th
