TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Benzodiazepine abuse among athletes: pain relief or just a weapon against insomnia? A clinical case study
JO  - Scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
A1  - Zamboni, Lorenzo
A1  - Lugoboni, Fabio
A1  - Zandonai, Thomas
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - It is widely recognised that benzodiazepine abuse can potentially induce addiction. Benzodiazepine addiction among athletes is a new and growing phenomenon that we are encountering among our patients. We describe a case of lormetazepam addiction in a female competitive marathon runner. A 30-year-old female elite athlete developed lormetazepam addiction after increasing her daily benzodiazepine dosage in an attempt to achieve better sleep and enhanced performances during training. She was hospitalised for 7 days to undergo benzodiazepine detoxification. Her lormetazepam daily dosage on admission was 18 vials (20 ml x 18 = 360 ml). This report highlights the risk of athletes becoming addicted to benzodiazepines used to combat insomnia and pain. There is a need for clinical and epidemiological research to investigate the effects of this addiction, with a view to better protecting the health of athletes.<br><br>This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0905-7188
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sms.13540
ID  - ref1
ER  -