For that reason, it is not possible to say whether the risk of Lunesta is really that high. However, Lunesta was a relatively new drug at the time of the study, and relatively few people took it. Īll the sleeping pills showed a similar increased risk of death except Lunesta, which showed a more than 500% increased risk compared to any of the other sleeping pills. The average age of patients was 54, but the study found harm associated with sleeping pill use in every age group. However, prescriptions for the use of any sleep aid was associated with a significant increase in the risk of death, including eszopiclone (”Lunesta”), zaleplon (”Sonata”), barbiturates, as well as antihistamines such as diphenhydramine (the active ingredient in Benadryl), which is also used in many over-the-counter sleep aids. In fact, before this study it was believed that the worst side effect was weight gain due to night time raids on the refrigerator while sleep walking.Īmong study participants, the most commonly prescribed sleeping pill was zolpidem (sold as Ambien, Edluar, or Zolpimist), followed by temazepam (a benzodiazepine sold as Restoril). These were generally believed to be safer than previous generations of sleeping pills because they wear off more quickly. However, this study is especially well-designed and the only one that includes the newer, short-acting class of popular sleeping pills known as nonbenzodiazepines. Among those with prescriptions for sleeping pills, the increased risk of their developing lymphoma, lung cancer, colon and prostate cancer was greater than the risk from being a current smoker.īefore this study, there were at least 18 other studies showing an increased risk of death for people taking sleeping pills, and several also showed an increased risk of cancer. The researchers were careful to exclude from the study patients who were diagnosed with cancer before the study or very early in the study. Heavy users of sleeping pills (over 132 pills prescribed per year) had a 35% greater risk than those with fewer pills prescribed. Patients who were prescribed more than 132 pills a year were more than five times as likely to die. Even the patients who were prescribed fewer than 18 pills per year were at higher risk of dying: 3.6 times higher. Patients who were prescribed sleeping pills were at least three to five times more likely to have died during the study than were the patients not prescribed sleeping pills. The researchers looked at 10,529 primary care patients who were prescribed sleeping pills between 20 and compared the health of each of them to at least two very similar patients without such prescriptions who were the same sex, ethnicity, marital status, smoking status, and had similar health conditions, alcohol use and BMI (which measures if a person is overweight). The patients were followed for 2.5 years on average, and were from a Pennsylvania clinic that serves a mainly low-income population. Author Dr. Daniel Kripke estimates that these popular sleep medications could cause 320,000 to 507,000 deaths in just one year. However, the use of these drugs may take a nosedive in light of the findings of a study published in the prestigious British Medical Journal. Led by researchers at the Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Center in California, the study shows that people who take these drugs are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with cancer or to die within the next two and a half years than people who don’t take them. While prescription sleep medications are big business - more than $41 billion/year in the U.S. many people with trouble sleeping turn to over-the-counter antihistamines such as Tylenol PM and Benadryl. When we hear “sleeping pills,” most of us think of prescription drugs such as Ambien (generic name zolpidem), Restoril (temazepam), and Lunesta (eszopiclone). Brandel France de Bravo, MPH, Kousha Mohseni, MS, National Center for Health Research
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |