In this category, benzodiazepines are most commonly used.

As a result dosage recommendations for the elderly are about half of those used in younger individuals and used for no longer than two weeks. Some experts advise that patients should be warned against drinking alcohol while on lorazepam treatment, but such clear warnings are not universal. The sedative-hypnotic and anterograde amnesia properties of lorazepam are sometimes used for criminal purposes. Adverse effects are more common in the elderly, and they appear at lower doses than in younger patients. Lorazepam may also be slower to clear in the elderly leading potentially to accumulation and enhanced effects. Lorazepam-glucuronide is eventually excreted by the kidneys, and, because of its tissue accumulation, it remains detectable - particularly in the urine - for substantially longer than lorazepam. High dose or prolonged parentally administered lorazepam is sometimes associated with propylene glycol intoxication. Opportunistic counseling has limited value here, as the patient is unlikely to recall this later, owing to drug-induced anterograde amnesia. The magnitude and duration of lorazepam effects are dose-related, meaning that larger doses have stronger and longer-lasting effects. 2%), and unsteadiness (3.