Diazepam
benzodiazepine sedative
Diazepam, sold under the brand name Valium among others, is a medication of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, and restless legs syndrome. It may also be used to cause memory loss during certain medical procedures. It can be taken orally (by mouth), as a suppository (inserted into the rectum), intramuscularly (injected into muscle), intravenously (injection into a vein) or used as a nasal spray. When injected intravenously, effects begin in one to five minutes and last up to an hour. When taken by mouth, effects begin after 15 to 60 minutes.
Common side effects include sleepiness and trouble with coordination. Serious side effects are rare. They include increased risk of suicide, decreased breathing, and a paradoxical increased risk of seizures if used too frequently in those with epilepsy. Occasionally, excitement or agitation may occur.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Diazepam” as benzodiazepine sedative. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q210402. The Library of Congress control number is sh88005436. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Diazepam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.