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Sleeping pills are they worth the risks?(CR: Health)(Buyers guide)
The green Luna moth that twinkles through TV ads for the sleeping pill Lunesta (eszopiclone) has been a hard insect to ignore. Since the April 2005 rollout of the drug, its manufacturer, Sepracor, has spent $227 million, making Lunesta the drug most frequently advertised to the public last year. That seems to have forced the market leader, Ambien (zolpidem), to buy more ad time and shore up its spot as the 14th-most-prescribed drug in the U.S.
The ad blitz may be working. Pharmacists filled 43 million prescriptions for sleep drugs in 2005; that's a 32 percent increase from 2001.
Does this mean the U.S. is in the throes of a huge sleep crisis? And if so, is a sleeping pill really the best way to cope?
To help you decide, a new report from the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs public information initiative examined how sleeping pills stack up against one another (see table, on facing page) and against other techniques for improving sleep. The report is the latest in a series that recommends drugs for such problems as heartburn, high blood pressure, and pain, based on the scientific analysis of the Drug Effectiveness Review Project. Fifteen states fund that project and use the findings to decide which drugs to cover in their Medicaid programs. CR Best Buy Drugs reports can be downloaded free at www.ConsumerReports.org/health.
According to the latest CR Best Buy Drugs report, on insomnia, Americans may be jumping to pills too soon when safer remedies are available. Most sleeping pills have side effects ranging from dependency to rebound insomnia, in which symptoms return and may even worsen after the person stops taking the pills.
Yet the drug ads imply that medication is the best remedy for sleep problems. "Now anyone with trouble falling asleep is being told they have a medical problem that may require a medical solution," says Steven Woloshin, M.D., part of a research team at the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, Vt., that has studied the communication of medical information to patients.
NIGHT AFTER NIGHT?
- "Americans may rely too heavily on sleeping pills" when there are safer...
- Newspaper article from: Pharma Marketletter August 14, 2006 700+ words
...insomnia may be relying too heavily on sleeping pills instead of trying safer non-drug remedies...new report from Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs, which recommends that consumers who take sleeping pills do so for the shortest period possible...
- New Sleeping Pills.
- News wire article from: The America's Intelligence Wire January 15, 2004 700+ words
...coming months, how much you need sleep and maybe even sleeping pills. A new effort is under way to expand the use of sleeping pills. And it just so happens that two new sleeping pills, Astora (ph) and Endoplan (ph) are expected to be...
- More using sleeping pills, few complaints.
- Newspaper article from: New Straits Times March 17, 2007 700+ words
...Suparmaniam KUALA LUMPUR: While the use of sleeping pills in Malaysia is increasing, there are...claimed that some of the most widely used sleeping pills could cause strange behaviour, like...Suarn said the increase in the use of sleeping pills among Malaysians could be due to a...
- The dangers of sleeping pills.
- Magazine article from: Aging September 22, 1994 700+ words
...many seniors think they need to take sleeping pills. While small amounts of these medications...home prematurely. Most prescription sleeping pills -- including Dalmane, Doral, ProSom...people. "We recommend that people use sleeping pills only every third or fourth night...
- Putting women down: the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's...
- Magazine article from: Briarpatch July 1, 2004 700+ words
...Physicians prescribe benzodiazepines and sleeping pills to help women cope with work or family...endocrine and gastrointestinal systems. Sleeping pills (hypnotics) act by the same mechanisms...brain and body. Benzodiazepines and sleeping pills also impair and compromise a wide ...
- Use of prescribed sleeping pills is up.
- Newspaper article from: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News) October 23, 2005 700+ words
Byline: Guy Boulton Oct. 23--Sleeping pills -- rechristened as sleep medications...children. The use of prescription sleeping pills among people ages 20 to 44 doubled...coming years. The growing acceptance of sleeping pills reflects broader trends in health care...
- Sleeping pills linked to Ohara came from abroad.
- Magazine article from: Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri October 26, 2000 700+ words
...Police on Tuesday said the number of sleeping pills they have confiscated from one of the...Doctors' prescriptions are required for sleeping pills in Japan, and large quantities are...According to police, a large number of sleeping pills, kept in their original plastic packages...
- Duke: Duke students facing insomnia turn to sleeping pills.
- News wire article from: The America's Intelligence Wire November 9, 2005 700+ words
...few years, the age of those using sleeping pills to manage insomnia has gradually decreased. Although sleeping pills are a popular option for insomniacs...shows that more people are using sleeping pills, but it also demonstrates that...
- Students addiction to sleeping pills on the rise: study.
- News wire article from: PTI - The Press Trust of India Ltd. May 7, 2004 700+ words
...60 per cent of them regularly take sleeping pills for insomnia and study pressure, a...properties of the second generation sleeping pills, widely known as "An Ding" or...properties of the second generation sleeping pills, the report said. Now there are three...
- Sleeping pills without regrets.
- Newspaper article from: Harvard Health Letter August 1, 2004 700+ words
...fixes of sleep medicine. Soon some sleeping pills may be sold as long-term solutions...Barbiturates were once widely prescribed as sleeping pills, but "downers," as they are often...has approved only five varieties as sleeping pills (and Valium isn't one of them...
