A new report shows that the number of emergency department visits involving adverse reactions to the sleep medication zolpidem rose nearly 220 percent from 6,111 visits in 2005 to 19,487 visits in 2010.
[More]
A team of sleep researchers led by UC Riverside psychologist Sara C. Mednick has confirmed the mechanism that enables the brain to consolidate memory and found that a commonly prescribed sleep aid enhances the process.
[More]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it is requiring the manufacturers of Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar and Zolpimist, widely used sleep drugs that contain the active ingredient zolpidem, to lower current recommended doses. Ambien and Ambien CR are also available as generics.
[More]
Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered that dozens of adults with an elevated need for sleep have a substance in their cerebrospinal fluid that acts like a sleeping pill.
[More]
Obesity appears to significantly increase the risk of death tied to sleeping pills, nearly doubling the rate of mortality even among those prescribed 18 or fewer pills in a year, researchers reported Friday.
[More]
It's National Sleep Awareness Week, and Loyola University Health System sleep specialists are offering advice on -- Why Daylight Saving Time, which begins Sunday, March 11, can be hazardous to your health.
[More]
According to a U.S. study, people who take certain prescription sleeping pills even once in a while may be up to five times more susceptible to early death. In the U.S., an estimated six per cent to 10 per cent of adults used the drugs in 2010.
[More]
People are relying on sleeping pills more than ever to get a good night's rest, but a new study by Scripps Clinic researchers links the medications to a 4.6 times higher risk of death and a significant increase in cancer cases among regular pill users.
[More]
The heart attacks never came. Four days later, Chris woke up. It was not the awakening of Hollywood movies in which the patient comes to, just as he was, speaking full sentences and completely mobile. Three years later, Chris still cannot talk. Although he breathes on his own, his lungs battle a steady barrage of infections; a feeding tube provides all his sustenance, and his muscles have contracted into short, twisted knots. He can move only the slightest bit. … Still, Wayne and Judy say that his cognition is improving.
[More]
Transcept Pharmaceuticals Inc. has received the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its drug Intermezzo - a drug that can help people get back to sleep after waking in the middle of the night. The treatment contains a low-dose of zolpidem tartrate, the active ingredient in Paris-based Sanofi’s sleeping pill Ambien.
[More]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Intermezzo (zolpidem tartrate sublingual tablets) for use as needed to treat insomnia characterized by middle-of-the-night waking followed by difficulty returning to sleep.
[More]
Actavis, an international generic pharmaceuticals company, today announced that it has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration to market Zolpidem Tartrate Extended-Release Tablets USP, 12.5 mg CIV. Distribution of the product has commenced.
[More]
The “perfect storm” for Fibromyalgia, CFS/ME, and fatigue in general is preparing to hit. A combination of poor nutrition, decreasing sleep, increasing stress and environmental toxins has created a human energy crisis of unprecedented proportions. Over the past 10 years, the incidence of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FMS) has exploded by 400 to 1000 percent, as documented in five separate studies. The numbers for those with CFS in the U.S., previously estimated at 500,000, are now being re-tallied at closer to 1- 2.5 million. Previous estimates placed the number of Americans with FMS at 6 million. Studies worldwide suggest this has likely gone up in the last decade to ~ 12-24 million Americans! Meanwhile, ¼ of Americans suffer with chronic pain and most are fatigued.
[More]
Adults who take one of the world's most commonly prescribed sleep medications are significantly more at risk for nighttime falls and potential injury, according to a new study by the University of Colorado at Boulder.
[More]
The use of general anesthesia is a routine part of surgical operations at hospitals and medical facilities around the world, but the precise biological mechanisms that underlie anesthetic drugs' effects on the brain and the body are only beginning to be understood. A review article in the December 30 New England Journal of Medicine brings together for the first time information from a range of disciplines, including neuroscience and sleep medicine, to lay the groundwork for more comprehensive investigations of processes underlying general anesthesia.
[More]
The brain under general anesthesia isn't "asleep" as surgery patients are often told -- it is placed into a state that is a reversible coma, according to three neuroscientists who have published an extensive review of general anesthesia, sleep and coma, in the Dec. 30 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
[More]
Commenting on the Group's 2009 performance, sanofi-aventis Chief Executive Officer Christopher A. Viehbacher said, "2009 was the first year of implementation of our new strategy. Major steps have already been achieved in strengthening our growth platforms and reinforcing our R&D pipeline while delivering a double-digit EPS(1) growth".
[More]
If you are looking for the best way to save money on your prescription drugs then FREEDRUGCARD.US is your best option. The free prescription assistance drug card program is sponsored by a non-profit organization and was launched to help all Americans lower the cost of prescription drugs.
[More]
NovaDel Pharma Inc., today announced that it received an Issue Notification from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a new U.S. Patent, No. 7632517, entitled “Buccal, Polar and Non-polar Spray Containing Zolpidem,” which covers a method of treating insomnia by administering zolpidem to humans utilizing NovaDel’s oral spray technology.
[More]
Simple computerized alerts can help curb the impulse to prescribe unnecessarily expensive, heavily marketed drugs. A study in the August issue of Journal of General Internal Medicine found that when clinicians received computerized alerts, which compared medication brands, they changed 23.3 percent of prescriptions for four heavily marketed sleep medications to comparable generic equivalents.
[More]