SEDATIVE HYPNOTIC DRUGS

SEDATIVE INGESTION  About 4% of U.S. adults aged 20 and over used prescription sleep aids in the past month 1.  The percentage of adults using a prescription sleep aid increased with age and education. More adult women (5.0%) used prescription sleep aids than adult men (3.1 %)1.  Non-Hispanic white adults were more likely to use sleep aids (4.7%) than non-Hispanic black (2.5%) and Mexican-American (2.0%) adults 1.

SEDATIVE INGESTION  Prescription sleep aid use varied by sleep duration and was highest among adults who sleep less than 5 hours (6.0%) or sleep 9 or more hours (5.3 %)1.  One in six adults with a diagnosed sleep disorder and one in eight adults with trouble sleeping reported using sleep aids 1.  In the past two decades, both popular media and pharmaceutical companies have reported an increased number of prescriptions filled for sleep aids in the United States 1.

SEDATIVE PRESCRIPTION  Sedatives are used to treat problems such as anxiety, mood disorders and insomnia, and include drugs such as Valium, Halcion, Xanax, Ativan and Librium 2.  Doctors in the United States are writing more prescriptions for sedatives than ever before, and the frequent use of these powerful drugs in combination with narcotic painkillers may be causing medication-related deaths, a new study suggests 2.

SEDATIVE PRESCRIPTION STUDY  For the study, researchers looked at 3.1 billion primary care visits made by Americans between 2002 and 2009, and found that 12.6 percent of those visits involved prescriptions for sedatives (benzodiazepines) or narcotic (opioid) painkillers. They also found that the number of prescriptions for sedatives increased 12.5 percent a year 2.  Patients who received narcotic painkiller prescriptions were 4.2 times more likely to also have sedative prescriptions, and the number of joint prescriptions of opioids and benzodiazepines rose 12 percent a year, according to the researcher 2.

SEDATIVE PRESCRIPTION STUDY  The study showed that the use of sedatives and narcotic painkillers contribute to at least 30 percent of narcotic painkiller- related deaths, according to investigators 2.  “Doctors need to be better educated about the risks of combining the two medications, and there needs to be better coordination between those who prescribe narcotic painkillers and those who prescribe sedatives.”- Dr. Ming-Chih Kao 2

SIDE EFFECTS OF HYPNOTICS 3,4  Headache  Nausea  Weakness  Insomnia  Chest Pains  Depression

REFERENCES  1. "Prescription Sleep Aid Use Among Adults: United States " Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 Aug Web. 02 Oct  2. “Study Finds Doctors Prescribing More Sedatives." - Drugs.com MedNews. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct

REFERENCES  3. "What Are the Side Effects of Hypnotics? - RxList." RxList. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct  4. "WFU Choices." Sedative-Hypnotics. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct

REFERENCES  "Sedative Addiction-benzos Chemical, Psychological Dependence | Rapid Opiate Detox Center in Europe.Heroin Detox Followed by Opiate Blockers at RefindYourWay Center - Part 1." Rapid Opiate Detox Center in EuropeHeroin Detox Followed by Opiate Blockers at RefindYourWay Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct