they discovered the brain's waste removal during NREM sleep (the glymphatic system) is driven by rhythmic norepinephrine pulses controlling coordinated blood vessel movements.
*Zolpidem (Ambien) suppresses this cleaning process by interfering with norepinephrine pulses*
This has implications for Alzheimer's and dementia.
Long term use of drugs that interact with the GABA-A receptor have been known to be associated with dementia risk for a very long time.
Zolpidem (Ambien) isn't indicated for long-term use, but there are some doctors who ignore this and prescribe long-term. It's rare, though.
I think some people are drawing narrow conclusions from the use of Zolpidem in this study. They're not saying Zolpidem uniquely causes this problem, they're just showing that Zolpidem was one way to trigger this. It's like a property of many sedative hypnotics and quite possibly other types of sleep aids, too. Demonizing Zolpidem isn't the point of this study.
> Cosette Pharmaceuticals is permanently closed, so there is no stock for the company.
> Cosette Pharmaceuticals was a pharmaceutical company that manufactured topical creams, ointments, oral liquids, and suppositories. They had facilities in New Jersey and North Carolina.
No, Google. They're just a private company.
Thanks, Google.
Beyond this, I can't imagine this drug will be something people will want to continue taking. It was already posited to not be good for Alzheimer's, and now they have a smoking gun for a plausible mechanism.
It could plausibly be 20 years before that plays out
Ambien has been generic for a very long time. It's not an expensive drug.
It's also not even indicated for long-term nightly use. You can find stories online of people who get continuous prescriptions from their doctor, but doing so is a rare practice. Most doctors are nervous to prescribe any drug of this class right now. When they do, it's only for short-term or occasional use.
I don't think this is really a pitchforks-out moment against drug companies.
I'm done with it for another 6 months again.
Forever or only when taken ? (I can only read the abstract)
every other neuroscience paper has that coda
Often doctors prescribe low dose Seroquel, but that has its own laundry lists of problems.
-someone who has spent a few years now fighting between Seroquel and Weed, assuming the other is the worse choice always.