Sedatives calms nerves, a property utilized in managing anxiety of acute onset.
Higher doses of sedatives induces sleep and thus used as sleep aids.
Overdoses of these sedative-hypnotics produces symptoms akin to alcohol intoxication (slurred speech, ataxia and incordination) as well as amnesia (utilized in date rape)
The most serious effects of their overdoses are aspiration, respiratory failure and cardiovascular collapse that often parallel dose-dependent CNS depression.
Although hypothermia and cutaneous bullae (Barb blisters) is common with all sedative-hypnotics it is more pronounced with barbiturates.
Unlike barbiturates, overdoses of benzodiazepines alone rarely result in death;most often . . .
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