![]() ![]() none of these other factors could have caused the increase in death rates.) (The participants were age and gender, smoking, body mass index, ethnicity, marital status, alcohol use and prior cancer matched people i.e. ![]() Even people using sleeping pills 1 1/2 times a month showed an 3.6 fold increase in mortality. Walker reached back to a very large (n=10,500 patients) 2012 study by University of California at San Diego which found that over a 2 1/2 year period that people taking hypnotic sleep drugs (zolpidem (Ambien), temazepam (Restoril), eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata), other benzodiazepines, barbiturates and sedative antihistamines (ketotifen) were almost 5 times more likely to die. He asserts that they’re actually dangerous. Walker goes further, suggesting that the drugs don’t do a great job of inducing real sleep, though. There’s also the potential problem of “ rebound insomnia” in which insomnia worsens when one stops the drugs, as well as possible problems with drug withdrawal. Walker’s assertion that these drugs can’t reproduce natural sleep is borne out in the grogginess, forgetfulness and slowed reaction times during the day that some people experience with them. Putting sleep in parentheses, Walker reports that the type of “sleep” drugs like Ambien or Lunesta promotes lacks the large, deep brainwaves produced during normal NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. Studies suggest that sleep drugs do improve total time asleep, reduce time to fall asleep, etc., and that people may feel better using them i.e. ![]() Some studies suggest that Ambien, for instance, improves spindle activation and short-term memory. They don’t improve sleep – they simply shut down the higher regions of our brains’ cortexes. The older sleep drugs, such as diazepam, basically did knock you out, but Walker doesn’t believe the newer sleep drugs are much better. They’re basically sedating agents or knock-out drugs. In fact, Walker doesn’t believe these are “sleeping pills” at all. Sleeping pills, he bluntly states, at the beginning of the chapter, “do not provide natural sleep, can damage health, and increase the risk of life-threatening diseases”. If he had his way, one gets the feeling all sleeping pills would be removed from the market. spend $30 billion dollars a year on prescription drug and over-the-counter sleep remedies. One estimate suggests that 20% of older Americans regularly take sleep drugs. ![]() Approximately 10 million people take some sleep aid every month and the numbers rise as we get older. During an interview he said the publisher assiduously fact-checked that chapter, in particular, to avoid being sued by the pharmaceutical companies. The most controversial chapter in Walker’s book is undoubtedly the one on sleeping pills. A self-proclaimed “ Sleep Diplomat“, Walker has been on a mission to convince the world to take sleep more seriously. He’s co-authored over a 100 sleep studies. Walker PhD, is a Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the UC Berkeley, and the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. This is the second part of a two-part series reviewing Matthew Walker’s book “ Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams”. (That will come later in the sleep series.) Rather, it’s a general overview of sleep topics from a leader in the field as Health Rising starts its Sleep Series. Please note that Walker does not discuss chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia in his book, and this blog does not specifically pertain to either disease: it is not meant to be a prescription for sleep for either disease. ![]()
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