Because of several reasons such as stress, health conditions, medications, and beverages such as coffee and alcoholic drinks, more and more people now have insomnia. To treat this sleep problem, experts tend to prescribe several medicines to patients just for them to be able to have a good night sleep. These medications include antidepressant drugs such as trazodone (Desyrel), temazepam (Restoril), and triazolam (Halcion), as posted by WebMD.
Aside from helping people have a peaceful sleep, have you ever wondered how these medications affect the body? Are these sleep drugs safe to consume?
Just this April, the medical field was alarmed by the Food and Drug Administration's recent black-box warnings. This is the agency's action to "call attention to serious or life-threatening risks" on three of the most well-known drugs given by doctors to treat patients suffering from insomnia. These sleep drugs include eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata), and zolpidem (Ambien).
According to the FDA, these hypnotic drugs caused about 46 non-fatal incidents that left patients with serious injuries. These accidents include falls, overdoses, and near-drownings.
Furthermore, it is also the main reason for the 20 deaths that have been recorded by the experts. According to the data gathered from the post-mortem examination of the bodies, the reason for the patients' deaths is mostly due to hypothermia, monoxide poisoning, car accidents, and suicide.
Though it may look like the numbers of affected are still very low at present, Dr. Ned Sharpless, the FDA Commissioner, still wants these digits to at least serve as a warning for people who are taking such medications. "While these incidents are rare, they are serious, and it's important that patients and health care professionals are aware of the risks," he said.
Moreover, experts say the effects of sleep medications aren't the same. Most of these effects, however, include allergic reactions, drowsiness, stomach issues, headache, dizziness, and memory problems.
Meanwhile, according to a study conducted last 2018, "hypnotics are related to serious illnesses and premature deaths from cancer, serious infections [most commonly of the upper-respiratory system], mood disorders, accidental injuries, suicides, and homicides." With all these, experts are now urging people to avoid at least taking these sleep medications and choose healthier alternatives instead, as reported by TIME.
One of the things you can do to help you manage your sleep is to consume foods such as kiwi, almonds, turkey, bananas, and walnuts. Some beverages can also help relax and calm the tensions in your body such as tart cherry juice, passionflower tea, and chamomile tea.
