Valium

Brand Names: Valium
Generic Name: Diazepam
Manufacturer: Roche.


Diazepam is a type of medicine called a benzodiazepine. Benzodiazepines are used for their sedative and anxiety-relieving effects.

Diazepam works by acting on receptors in the brain called GABA receptors. This causes the release of a neurotransmitter called GABA in the brain.

Diazepam has several uses. Firstly, it can be used to calm severe anxiety and agitation. For example, benzodiazepines such as diazepam are effective at quickly reducing the symptoms of anxiety and agitation that occur in a manic episode of the psychiatric illness, bipolar affective disorder. A benzodiazepine may be given as part of the initial treatment of a manic episode, though they are not licensed specifically for this purpose. Benzodiazepines help calm the individual while the main medicines for this condition (mood stabilisers) begin to take effect.

Oral forms of diazepam are also used for short-term treatment of severe anxiety associated with insomnia, as well as for night terrors and sleep-walking in children. Diazepam decreases the time taken to fall asleep and nocturnal awakenings, as well as increasing the total amount of time spent sleeping. However, it is only suitable for short-term treatment of insomnia and anxiety as it has a high potential for dependence and addiction. As diazepam remains active in the body for many hours, drowsiness may also persist into the next day.

Diazepam is also given for its sedating and anxiety-relieving effects as a pre-med before surgery or medical investigations or procedures, and to alcoholics during acute alcohol withdrawal.

The second main use of diazepam is in controlling convulsions, for example epilepsy, or seizures associated with fever in children (febrile convulsions). It is particularly useful for controlling repeated epileptic fits when a patient does not recover conciousness between fits (status epilepticus). Diazepam helps control convulsions because the increased activity of GABA that it causes in the brain helps to calm excessive electrical nerve activity that is responsible for causing seizures.