Benzodiazepines, or Benzos for short, are a class of drugs that can be used for a variety of clinical uses, including treating anxiety, seizures, and alcohol withdrawal. In this video, I'll give you an easy visual way to remember everything you need to know about benzodiazepines for test day. Let's go!
For today's video, we're stepping inside the Benz car dealership. These Benz luxury cars are TopDollar and I'm loving that shiny Benz logo on the front of the car. By the way, when you think of a Benz car, I want you to think of the drug class benzodiazepines.
Benz for benzodiazepines. Got that? So, when you see a question on test day about benzodiazepines, come back to this Benz dealership in your mind to enter the scene.
But how are you going to recognize a benzodiazepine when you see one? Let's talk about that next. If you've ever been to a car dealership, you know that the car salesman is always handing you pamphlet after pamphlet, explaining the details of the car and the deals going on at the dealership. These pamphlets here are a symbol for the PAM ending of some common benzodiazepines.
I'm talking about drug names like clonazepam, lorazepam, and diazepam. Notice all those PAM endings? Unfortunately, benzodiazepines are not quite that simple. And there are some other drug names that don't fall into the PAM category.
So let's move on to learn some of these other drug names. You're probably familiar with how several car dealerships always seem to be right next to each other. This Benz dealership is no exception. Take a look at the Lambo dealership through the window. The Lambo dealership is our symbol for the lamb ending of some other benzodiazepines.
Maybe you've heard the names midazolam or alprazolam. Even if you haven't, you now know that they're benzodiazepines because of their LAM endings. There's just one more important benzodiazepine that doesn't fall into the PAM or the LAM category. Here at the Benz dealership, you have the option to customize your car's color using the color diagram on display. This color diagram is our symbol for the drug chlordiazepoxide.
Get it? Color diagram for chlordiazepoxide? Great, now that we've covered the need-to-know drug names of benzodiazepines, let's move on to talk about when they are used.
Now, I've been to several car dealerships in my life, but never have I seen something like this. A man here is in the process of stealing a car right out of the display room. The car thief is looking extremely anxious, worried that he's going to get stopped. By the way, this anxious man is our symbol for anxiety.
This should help you remember that benzodiazepines are able to treat anxiety. They work to treat anxiety by depressing the activity of the brain. Benzos are classically used to treat general anxiety, as well as other anxiety disorders like panic attacks or PTSD. Just remember the anxious driver here to remember that benzodiazepines treat anxiety. Like any top-class car, this Benz car is equipped with the newest anti-shake technology.
Those shocks there are guaranteed to give you the smoothest ride around. Which reminds me, the anti-shake shocks here should remind you of how benzodiazepines are used to treat seizures. Just like the bends isn't shaking at all, benzodiazepines treat and prevent the body from shaking, like what might happen in the context of seizures. This should make sense if you remember that benzodiazepines act as CNS depressants.
Seizures are a result of high electrical activity in the brain. and CNS depressants slow down that brain activity, thus stopping the seizures. Make sense? Benzos like lorazepam and diazepam are actually the preferred treatment for many types of seizures. So be sure to commit this fact to memory.
The car thief has left behind his bottle of alcohol. Maybe the alcohol has impaired his decision-making and made him think that stealing a Benz car was the good idea? Well, whatever the case, he doesn't seem to need the alcohol now. He's just trying to get out of here as fast as he can. The way the man is leaving behind his alcohol reminds me that benzodiazepines are used to help people, well, leave behind alcohol.
In other words, benzodiazepines are used to treat alcohol withdrawal, managing the unpleasant symptoms that alcoholics experience when they stop drinking. Alcohol withdrawal can be very dangerous, manifesting as headaches, nausea, hallucinations, tremors, anxiety, and seizures. Benzos are the best drugs to use to treat alcohol withdrawal, and this fact is extremely high yield.
Now that we have all the major clinical uses out of the way, let's move next to talk about some side effects of these drugs. How is the car thief getting away with this in the middle of the day? Who's in charge here?
I think it's supposed to be the car salesman who is fast asleep on his desk. This sleeping salesman is our symbol for sedation, because benzodiazepines cause sedation. Certain benzodiazepines are even used to treat insomnia, but just remember that all benzodiazepines will make you sleepy, just like this car salesman. Like with all sedatives, Benzodiazepines are best if taken in the evening to avoid daytime drowsiness. And patients taking benzodiazepines should be cautioned against driving due to this sedative effect.
Is it getting a little hot in here or is it just me? Hey, looks like the fan in here has completely broken. See how it's all cracked and dusty?
There's absolutely no airflow in this room. Here at Pixerize, we like to use a fan to symbolize the lungs. because they both are responsible for moving air. In this case, the fan is broken and there is no air moving.
This symbolizes respiratory depression, since benzodiazepines can cause respiratory depression. In fact, overdoses of benzodiazepines can slow down the lungs so much that they can lead to respiratory failure and hypoxia in patients. In severe cases, the patient may stop breathing altogether and require external ventilation.
This risk is compounded if a patient takes another CNS depressant on top of the benzodiazepine, like opioids or alcohol. As you can imagine, this is a pretty severe side effect. Count those respirations carefully while doing your assessment on a patient taking benzodiazepines.
If the salesman was awake, not only would he stop the car thief, but it would also be a great time to talk to people about the Benz dealership's loyalty program. Here at the Benz dealership, they offer loyalty cards where people who purchase a car can keep coming back for free tune-ups and repairs. Here at Pixerize, we use loyalty cards as our symbol for tolerance and dependence.
Just like these loyalty cards keep customers coming back to the dealership, benzodiazepines are addictive and keep patients coming back for more. Kind of like a loyalty program, if you will. In fact, benzodiazepines are considered a controlled substance.
due to their high abuse potential. Once someone has been taking benzodiazepines for a while, it's important that they taper off the drug instead of stopping the drug abruptly. Otherwise, they will experience symptoms of withdrawal.
Tolerance can also lead to people taking higher and higher doses of the drug to try and achieve the same effect. This is dangerous because, like we talked about earlier, an overdose of benzodiazepines can cause respiratory depression. So, what do you do if a patient has overdosed on benzodiazepines and is experiencing respiratory depression? Let's move on to our last symbol to find out.
I think the car thief is going to get away with it this time. He is peeling out of the dealership so fast that exhumed fumes are clouding the room. If only that fan was working. Anyway, these fumes are here to represent the antidote to benzodiazepines, and that is the drug flumazenil. Fumes for flumazenil?
Get it? You can even think of it as fumeazanil, if that helps. If a patient has overdosed on benzodiazepines and is experiencing respiratory depression, flumazanil is the antidote drug you should be reaching for.
Flumazanil works to reverse the effects of benzodiazepines. I guess we should come back when the car salesman is awake. For now, let's just take a second to review everything we've talked about today. Benzodiazepines, or benzos for short, are a large class of drugs with drug names that end in pam, like clonazepam and lorazepam, names that end in lam, like midazolam and alprazolam, as well as chlordiazepoxide. Benzodiazepines are central nervous system depressants, meaning they slow the brain down and reduce brain activity.
This is helpful in treating anxiety, seizures, as well as treating the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Benzodiazepines cause sedation, to the point where some benzodiazepines may even be used to treat insomnia. Benzodiazepines can also cause respiratory depression if taken in excess or if taken with other CNS depressants like alcohol or opioids. Benzodiazepines can cause tolerance and dependence and, if possible, the drug should be tapered down slowly to avoid withdrawal symptoms. If respiratory depression or other toxic effects of benzodiazepines do occur, Flumazenil is the antidote used and can reverse the effects of benzodiazepines.
I know that was a lot of information, but now you have the Benz dealership here to help you. Remembering everything you need to know about benzodiazepines should be a breeze. Thanks for tuning in and I'll see you in the next Pixarize video.
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