Valium — still on top after forty years on the market
Valium is one of the best known brand names for a medication in the world having been one of the most frequently prescribed tranquilliser/sedatives for the past forty years. Indeed, so useful is Valium that the World Health Organisation has identified it as one of the essential drugs necessary to establish a basic health care system. Valium is a benzodiazepine derivative most commonly used for treating anxiety disorders, seizures, insomnia and muscle spasms. It can also help you to forget what has happened. Some medical procedures such as the use of an endoscope can be difficult to perform if you are tense. Valium is useful to calm you.
But although Valium is inevitably associated with the management of anxiety disorders, this remains a powerful medication. As one of the class of benzodiazepine class, it should not be used in the cases of “ordinary” sadness and worry. We are all expected to work our way through the emotional stresses of life without having to rely on a drug.
How does Valium work?
Valium slows down the central nervous system by moderating the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), one of the brain’s major inhibitory neurotransmitters. It does not actually change the amount of GABA in the brain, but rather enhances the inhibitory effect. This has a general sedative, tranquillising effect, and affects the electrical activity involved in controlling muscular movement. It appears to smooth the amplitude of signals so that any spasm or convulsion is relaxed or less severe. Valium also affects the spinal cord which supports its anticonvulsive property.
Valium can be habit forming at higher doses for any real length of time. If you are considering the possibility of using it, you should discuss your plan with a doctor. If, after that consultation, you feel you must take it, take the smallest possible dose to achieve the level of relief you are seeking. When you have that effect, you should stop taking Valium. Once you become dependent, the withdrawal symptoms can be difficult to manage and you will find it difficult to stop.
In this context, you should also note the problem of tolerance. The longer you take Valium, the less effective it becomes as your body gets used to it. If you react to the declining effect by increasing the dosage, you are on the way to addiction.
There are also sound reasons for discontinuing the use of Valium if you become pregnant. There are risks of damaging the foetus.
Valium was the second benzodiazepine derivative developed by Hoffmann-La Roche. The Food and Drug Administration approved its use in 1963. The primary reason for its popularity was as the lesser of two evils. The alternative treatments involved the use of barbiturates which were significantly stronger sedatives. Valium was less dangerous (except when mixed with other sedatives or alcohol). Consequently, Valium quickly became and retained its position as the top-selling medication in the United States from 1969 to 1982. Now, forty years later, Valium remains one of the most useful medications. It is a remarkable tribute to Hoffmann-La Roche that it was able to produce a medication that will stand comparison with everything that modern science can produce.
