Which drug is a another name for diazepam?

Another name for diazepam is Valium, the brand name under which the drug was introduced by Hoffmann-La Roche. Diazepam is the generic name, while Valium is its best-known trade name; they refer to the same active medication.

Diazepam belongs to the benzodiazepine family of drugs. It enhances the effect of the neurotransmitter GABA at GABA-A receptors, producing calming, sedative, muscle-relaxant, and anticonvulsant effects. Doctors have used it for conditions including anxiety, muscle spasms, seizures, and alcohol-withdrawal symptoms.

Chemist Leo Sternbach developed diazepam at Hoffmann-La Roche, and it reached the market in 1963. It became one of the world’s most widely prescribed medicines, helped by its longer duration of action compared with some earlier sedatives. Its active metabolites can also remain in the body for a long time.

Valium is not a separate drug from diazepam, although diazepam is now sold under many other brand names. It can cause drowsiness, dependence, and dangerous breathing suppression when combined with alcohol or opioids, so it is a prescription medicine requiring medical supervision.