Drugs for chronic insomnia not approved for purpose

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

The drugs most often prescribed for chronic insomnia are not actually approved for this purpose and there is little evidence of their effectiveness.
Patients who complain of chronic insomnia may be prescribed a hypnotic - a drug approved for sleep problems. But often they will be prescribed an antidepressant, an antipsychotic, or a tranquillizer, according to researchers at Wake Forest University. In fact, trazodone - a sedating antidepressant - turns out to be the most frequently prescribed sleeping drug.

The researchers question whether there is clinical evidence to support these prescribing practices. In fact, there have been few trials and for five of the top ten prescribed drugs there have been no trials showing effectiveness. The reason why trazodone and other non-hypnotics are prescribed might be that the hypnotics themselves have firm limits on duration of use. For long-term sleep problems, the doctor has to look elsewhere. Therefore, it is important that clinical trials are carried out on the effectiveness of commonly prescribed drugs for insomnia.

Source
National Institutes of Health conference 14th June 2005

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