Text 15961, 110 rader
Skriven 2007-02-10 18:57:34 av Ellen K. (1:379/45)
Ärende: Re: Sleep medication linked to bizarre behaviour
========================================================
From: Ellen K. <72322.1016@compuserve.com>

And Lunesta?

On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 17:36:21 -0500, mike <mike@barkto.com> wrote in message
<nk0is2p0t532q77o535eidatal3rt4ps68@4ax.com>:

>
>http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11115.html
>
>===
>New evidence has linked a commonly prescribed sleep medication with
>bizarre behaviours, including a case in which a woman painted her front
>door in her sleep.
>
>UK and Australian health agencies have released information about 240
>cases of odd occurrences, including sleepwalking, amnesia and
>hallucinations among people taking the drug zolpidem.
>
>While doctors say that zolpidem can offer much-needed relief for people
>with sleep disorders, they caution that these newly reported cases
>should prompt a closer look at its possible side effects.
>
>Zolpidem, sold under the brand names Ambien, Stilnoct and Stilnox, is
>widely prescribed to treat insomnia and other disorders such as sleep
>apnea. Various forms of the drug, made by French pharmaceutical giant
>Sanofi-Aventis, were prescribed 674,500 times in 2005 in the UK.
>
>A newly published report from Australia’s Federal Health Department
>describes 104 cases of hallucinations and 62 cases of amnesia
>experienced by people taking zolpidem since marketing of the drug began
>there in 2000. The health department report also mentioned 16 cases of
>strange sleepwalking by people taking the medication.
>Midnight snack
>
>In one of these sleepwalking cases a patient woke with a paintbrush in
>her hand after painting the front door to her house. Another case
>involved a woman who gained 23 kilograms over seven months while taking
>zolpidem. “It was only when she was discovered in front of an open
>refrigerator while asleep that the problem was resolved,ö according to
>the report.
>
>The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, meanwhile,
>has recorded 68 cases of adverse reactions to zolpidem from 2001 to
>2005.
>
>The newly reported cases in the UK and Australia add to a growing list
>of bizarre sleepwalking episodes linked to the drug in other countries,
>including reports of people sleep-driving while on the medication. In
>one case, a transatlantic flight had to be diverted after a passenger
>caused havoc after taking zolpidem.
>Hypnotic effects
>
>There is no biological pathway that has been proven to connect zolpidem
>with these behaviours. The drug is a benzodiazepine-like hypnotic that
>promotes deep sleep by interacting with brain receptors for a chemical
>called gamma-aminobutyric acid. While parts of the brain become less
>active during deep sleep, the body can still move, making sleepwalking a
>possibility.
>
>The product information for prescribers advises that psychiatric adverse
>effects, including hallucinations, sleepwalking and nightmares, are more
>likely in the elderly, and treatment should be stopped if they occur.
>
>Patient advocacy groups say they would like government health agencies
>and drug companies to take a closer look at the possible risks
>associated with sleep medicines. They stress that strange sleepwalking
>and sleep-driving behaviours can have risky consequences.
>
>“When people do something in which they’re not in full control it’s
>always a danger,ö says Vera Sharav of the New York-based Alliance for
>Human Research Protection, a US network that advocates responsible and
>ethical medical research practices.
>Tried and tested
>
>“The more reports that come out about the potential side effects of the
>drug, the more research needs to be done to understand if these are real
>side effects,ö says sleep researcher Kenneth Wright at the University of
>Colorado in Boulder, US.
>
>Millions of people have taken the drug without experiencing any strange
>side effects, points out Richard Millman, a professor of medicine at
>Brown Medical School and director of the Sleep Disorders Center of
>Lifespan Hospitals in Providence, Rhode Island, US. He says that unlike
>older types of sleep medications, zolpidem does not carry as great a
>risk of addiction.
>
>And Wright notes that some of the reports of “sleep-drivingö linked to
>zolpidem can be easily explained: some patients have wrongly taken the
>drug right before leaving work in hopes that the medicine will kick in
>by the time they reach home. Doctors stress that the medication should
>be taken just before going to bed.
>
>The US Food and Drug Administration says it is continuing to "actively
>investigate" and collect information about cases linking zolpidem to
>unusual side effects.
>
>The Ambien label currently lists strange behaviour as a “special
>concernö for people taking the drug. “It’s a possible rare adverse
>event,ö says Sanofi-Aventis spokesperson Melissa Feltmann, adding that
>the strange sleepwalking behaviours “may not necessarily be caused by
>the drugö but instead result from an underlying disorder. She says that
>“the safety profile [of zolpidem] is well establishedö. The drug
>received approval in the US in 1993.
>===
>
> /m

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