- Benzodiazepines are tranquillizers designed to reduce anxiety and replace it with calmness, and sleep, and are usually only given out when the insomnia is severe, Not highly recommended as the person can develop a dependancy on them and are usually only given in short term fixs like with temazepam, loprazolam, and lormetazepam. This works by benzodiazepines binding with the GABA receptor in your brain to increase the amoiunt of chemical released that encourages drowsiness. This is counted as one of the oldest class of sleep medications still in use. They can loose their sleep quality over time, so they are not effective over long periods of time, on the other hand in short term fixes they can be beneficial, these short periods are recommended to be two to three weeks at any one time making it on of the least effective, but also the effectiveness is usually greater at easing the symptoms for first time users. In the top image are different kinds of Benzodiazepines. [14][19][20]
- Z medicines is a new type of medicine, and work in similiar ways to benodiazepines, being given in short lasting fixes but are not as addictive, but this means that if one doesnt work the other won't work either. On the right, the middle image is an example of Z medicines. They are effective for only a short amount of time, recommended use is two to four weeks before the effectiveness begins to wear off. [6][7][20]
- Antihistamines are used to cause drowsiness opun the person and to counter act the effects of histamines, a histamine is a chemical released in the brain during an immune response with the job to heal damaged tissue causing itching, swelling and redness to the damaged area, and a antihistamine blocks the actions of these histamines, they also work in the brain and the rest of the body to cause sleepiness. There are four different receptors of Histamines within the body found in cells, H1 receptor causes inflammation, H2 is the receptor that can help encourage the production of stomach acid, H3 is the receptor that stimulates the production of neurotransmitters, these messenger cells are used in the brain to transmit information and could have an effect on your emotional state and mood, and H4 prevents the immune system from attacking healthy tisse. The most common of the antihistamine is diphenhydramine and it’s in drugs like nytol, and sominex that you can see in the image none the side. Although the sedating type of Antihistamine is the older version which was never properly tested as a sleeping drug and is only recommended as a short term solution as its side effects are sedation leaving the person feeling groggy and dopey. [12][13][15]
Risk of drugs
There are many different potential risks of the treatment, although the most prominent is the side effects of the drug and the side effects are usually quite distressing,
Antihistamines pose a risk to the taker, they are over the counter sleep aids the produce more of the common side effects like moderate to severe drowsiness the next day, being dizzy or forgetful, developing clumsiness or having the feeling of being unbalance, constipation and urinary retention, blurred vision, and a dry mouth and throat. each of this could be different depending on the person and anyone who has glaucoma, trouble urinating, or breathing problems due to the emphysema or chronic bronchitis should tell their doctor before getting the pill due as they could increase the risk of side effects actually happening, and even more severely than usual which could lead to more side effects.
Meir H. Kryger notes that "Use of these medications for weeks, months or longer is not adviced because they affect the histamine system in the body, which can cause unwanted effects including nervousness, nausea..." (Kryger, M. H. (2004) “A Woman's Guide to Sleep Disorders” – United States of America: McGraw-Hill Companies, Pages 255 – 283 and 121 – 132)
Other disadvantages would be that the sufferer may become addicted to the drugs that they were given to help the symptoms of insomnia, also if the person uses their own “drugs” which is alcohol, this may also become addictive that they become an alcoholic.
Mental Health disorders. Anxiety, bipolar disorder and depression are a few of the prominent disorders that have caused insomnia. This is due to the emotional psychological problems, although sometimes it is unclear which condition is triggered by the other, depression could be brought on by lack of sleep, or it could be depression itself that causes sleeplessness, although insomnia itself can open itself up to many other illnesses and disorders.
Benefits
It is also important to remember that the medication may be the most effective means for sleep, like in a situation when recovering from a surgery, or traveling across a time zone, but are only usually given in severe circumstances due to the doctors worried about the dependencies upon the drug, relying on the medications to sleep and may be unable to sleep without it, and once the patient is dependant they will experience withdrawal symptoms like nausea, sweating and shaking or the insomnia can then become worse.
the wider benefits of the solutions is that the problem won't become more of a serious problem like chronic insomnia with a wider range of serious health consequences like risk if high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and depression, with the solution is could all of been prevented, as they would feel better and be more productive.
Alternative methods
There are many other ways to help induce sleep, three you can do on your own, These being (1) Paradox Training, (2) Relaxation training, (3) Sleep restriction / Routines, Firstly “Paradox intention” which is when you trick your body when you intentionally stay awake without any intention to go to sleep, this is used when the person has trouble getting to sleep Secondly the “Relaxation Training” which is when you prepare your body for sleep by reducing the amount of thoughts you have before you sleep that may interfere with sleep should also help as your body is then settled and ready for sleep but if you worry then you become tense and alert, freaking out before bed would not help you sleep. Avoiding stimulant drugs throughout the end of the day like caffeine or alcohol as they would stimulate your body making getting to sleep difficult; Exercise is suggested also in your routine but hours before you sleep as it tries you out taking away any extra energy. The “Sleep Restriction” and routines which is when you limit the time spent in bed to the amount of time spent sleeping, you restrict this time so much that you become sleep deprived and sleep when you get into bed, and slowly you sleep would improve and settle into this routine.
Meir H. Krieger, M.D. states that sleep restriction is a "strategy of limiting the amount of time spent in bed to that time you are actually asleep" (Kryger, M. H. (2004) “A Woman's Guide to Sleep Disorders” – United States of America: McGraw-Hill Companies, Pages 255 – 283 and 121 – 132)
This restriction could include limit the bedroom for being a comfortable environment, this means making your room a place specifically for sleep or sexual intercourse, removing televisions or distractions, as well as maintaining a constant temperature, after an amount of time your body would naturally fall into this sleeping routine. If they use the original solution of putting a routine onto themselves then the benefits would be that:
- It would be cheap. There would be no need for any drugs so the cost for making them and then selling them would not be involved. Also there would be no losses due to the amount of sufferers who might have been absent, or any loss of productivity because they are there and wide wake to concentrate properly.
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The person would decide when they are ready to go ahead with the treatment and how long it would take them to get back to a normal routine [9][15][17]
Another alternative is to create herbal and natural mixtures are being made to help prevent insomnia from coming on, and to help sleep come easily. The supplements are marketed and contain varying plants like Valerian rot, Chamomile, Passion flower, Jamaican dogwood, California poppy, Kava, Skullcap, and even lemon balm. Things made from these like “Chamomile Tea” can be very relaxing; this is what is reported by many, it is also a good option as it has no major side effects except toxicity to the liver, a picture of this is shown to the right. Jamaican dogwood is highly toxic, therefore making it the least desirable to use, no longer available in many markets. Supplements containing Kava may cause severe damage to the liver and there are now warnings for this to be avoided. [18]
Ethical, economical, social implications
Social implications: sleepiness causes as many as 200,000 automobile accidents in the U.S. and 1,500 deaths from such accidents. Insomnia can make an individual develop mood disorders like depression and anxiety, which in turn can cause a person to become unsociable as they cannot concentrate on the topic as well as they would if they were well rested. Although there is a range of different sleeping pills, each with slightly different side effects and different dosages to help the patient. They work by slowing down the nervous system through receptors in the brain. Although some of these medications are used to induce sleep while others are used to staying asleep, some last longer than others although it is prominent that the doctors prefer a short termed prescription of drugs as the ones that last longer will stay in your system longer creating the point of dependency more likely to happen. [15]
Ethical implication: The reliance on the drugs could be an implication as in many religions it might be offensive to take drugs or change the way of things if the problem is natural or sleep is seen to be natural, and should not be forced, also there is trouble as to the conflicting values concerning drugs in different societies.
Economic implications: cost of producing and buying the drugs that are used as treatment for example it costs the U.S. an estimated $100 billion a year in costs for treatments and the average citizens medical costs are 25% higher than the average person and around $150 billion in absenteeism and reduced productivity. Also the increased use of medical centers, clogging up the times in which doctors could see more seriously ill patients, this be bad for the economy as the seriously ill individuals would then have to take more time off of work to wait for an appointment in the doctors, this could then decrease the amount of work done, and the amount of money that is given to the worker as they are not there to earn it, If they are have less money being pulled in then they will have less money to spend, reducing the amount of money going into the economy although the cost of crating the pills are also great as they would need many different ingredients that may be difficult to find, employees to create the drugs, and the overall cost of production. [9][13][15]
Therefore the insomnia drugs are neither a useful, nor even a long term solutions for Insomnia, since all of them seem to lose their effectiveness over time forcing the dose to become higher, and therefore the side effects become more likely and more sever.
Validation
1) - A reliable site, its an organization funded by the Department of Health, and committed to providing the objective trustworthy information to the public and guidance, they have a list of standards on their website that they have to uphold, and these are that the information is:
- Approved by a clinical expert
- Reviewed and updated frequently
- Unbiased
- Non-commercial
- Not trying to replace a doctor
- Not asking to be paid for a full email diagnosis
- On the other hand it could be argued that they are just looking for people to treat, and ways to get someone into the clinic
2) - This is a large health organization, based within three different continents, they have the vision of "taking care of the lives in our hands", They have the aims to provide information that is relevant, reliable as they are up to date information, peer reviewed and show sources of their evidence, as well as being readable in plain English. They produce their evidence by using good sources, like systematic reviews and national guidelines, and they have it peer reviewed by experts in that specific medical field, they encourage feedback so that the information can fit the user’s needs. They show their sources of evidence so that it can be referred to or looked at by user’s aswell as the pupa website.
References.
[1] (11/02/2011)
[2] (11/02/2011)
[3] (11/02/2011)
[4] (11/02/2011)
[5] (24/02/2011)
[6] (26/02/2011)
[7] (26/02/2011)
[8] (03/03/2011)
[9] (03/03/2011)
[10] (03/03/2011) Online Journal
[11] (05/03/2011)
12) (26/04/2011)
13) (26)04/2011)
14) (26/04/2011)
15) Kryger, M. H. (2004) “A Woman's Guide to Sleep Disorders” – United States of America: McGraw-Hill Companies (Pages 255 – 283 and 121 - 132)
16) (27/04/2011
17) (27/04/2011)
18) (27/04/2011)
19) ? (04/05/2011)
20) (04/05/2011)
Photos
(04/05//2011 - Graph)
(04/05/2011 - Sominex photo)
(04/05/2011 - Z medicine photo)
(04/05/2011 - Colored benzodiazepines pills)
(04/05/2011 - Chamomile Tea)
