20 Facts About Lorazepam

Lorazepam, sold under the brand name Ativan among others, is a benzodiazepine medication.

Lorazepam was initially patented in 1963 and went on sale in the United States in 1977.

Lorazepam is used in the short-term management of severe anxiety.

Lorazepam is more effective than diazepam and intravenous phenytoin in the treatment of status epilepticus and has a lower risk of continuing seizures that might require additional medication.

Lorazepam is sometimes used as an alternative to midazolam in palliative sedation.

Related searches

Lorazepam is sometimes used as an alternative to haloperidol when there is the need for rapid sedation of violent or agitated individuals, but haloperidol plus promethazine is preferred due to better effectiveness and due to lorazepam's adverse effects on respiratory function.

Lorazepam is absorbed relatively slowly if given intramuscularly, a common route in restraint situations.

Lorazepam appears to have more profound adverse effects on memory than other benzodiazepines; it impairs both explicit and implicit memory.

Lorazepam's effects are dose-dependent, meaning the higher the dose, the stronger the effects will be.

Lorazepam has anxiolytic, sedative, hypnotic, amnesic, anticonvulsant, and muscle relaxant properties.

Lorazepam is highly protein bound and is extensively metabolized into pharmacologically inactive metabolites.

Lorazepam is rapidly conjugated at its 3-hydroxy group into lorazepam glucuronide which is then excreted in the urine.

Lorazepam is a different case; its low lipid solubility makes it relatively slowly absorbed by any route other than intravenously, but once injected, it will not get significantly redistributed beyond the vascular space.

Lorazepam is metabolized in the liver by conjugation into inactive lorazepam-glucuronide.

Lorazepam-glucuronide is more water-soluble than its precursor, so gets more widely distributed in the body, leading to a longer half-life than lorazepam.

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.

Lorazepam was first introduced by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in 1977 under the brand names Ativan and Temesta.

Lorazepam is used for other purposes, such as recreational use, wherein the drug is taken to achieve a high, or when the drug is continued long-term against medical advice.

Lorazepam was the third-most-common benzodiazepine used outside of prescription in these ER visit statistics.

Lorazepam is a Schedule IV drug under the Controlled Substances Act in the U S and internationally under the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances.