The New Old Age Blog: Weaning Older Patients Off of Sleeping Pills
Valium, Xanax and other drugs are widely used for insomnia and anxiety, but long-term use can be hazardous. (Source: NYT)
Source: NYT - July 2, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: By PAULA SPAN Tags: Elder Care Sedatives Elderly Drugs (Pharmaceuticals) Medical Issues Ambien (Drug) Insomnia Source Type: news
Different zolpidem maintenance regimens show similar efficacy
Read the full story on MD Consult:
Different zolpidem maintenance regimens show similar efficacy (Source: MD Consult: News: Top Stories)
Source: MD Consult: News: Top Stories - June 19, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Source Type: news
Murder: Another Ambien Side Effect? (CME/CE)
NEW YORK (MedPage Today) -- Forensic psychiatrists are facing new challenges with murders committed by people under the influence of the sleep drug zolpidem (Ambien) -- not least to persuade the criminal justice system to take their conclusions seriously. (Source: MedPage Today Psychiatry)
Source: MedPage Today Psychiatry - May 7, 2014 Category: Psychiatry Source Type: news
Sleep self-intoxication and sleep driving as rare zolpidem-induced complex behaviour - Paulke A, Wunder C, Toennes SW.
INTRODUCTION: The GABAA receptor agonist zolpidem has been used for treatment of insomnia since years, but special side effects have been reported. These side effects were called zolpidem-induced sleep-related complex behaviour. Such complex behaviour is a... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - May 3, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
EU Body OKs Zolpidem Label Changes to Avoid Drowsy Driving EU Body OKs Zolpidem Label Changes to Avoid Drowsy Driving
Patients taking the insomnia drug at bedtime must not take another dose later on that night, according to recommendations endorsed by a EU regulatory group. News Alerts (Source: Medscape Neurology and Neurosurgery Headlines)
Source: Medscape Neurology and Neurosurgery Headlines - April 26, 2014 Category: Neurology Tags: Neurology & Neurosurgery News Alert Source Type: news
Residual effects of low-dose sublingual zolpidem on highway driving performance the morning after middle-of-the-night use - Vermeeren A, Vuurman EF, Leufkens TR, Van Leeuwen CJ, Van Oers AC, Laska E, Rico S, Steinberg F, Roth T.
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate next-morning driving performance after middle-of-the-night use of zolpidem 3.5 mg in a buffered sublingual formulation (ZST). DESIGN: Single-center, four-period, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. SE... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - April 22, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
Europe's PRAC Recommends Label Update for ZolpidemEurope's PRAC Recommends Label Update for Zolpidem
The European regulatory panel recommends an update to underline and reduce the known risk of next-morning impaired driving and drowsiness with this sleep medication. News Alerts (Source: Medscape Neurology and Neurosurgery Headlines)
Source: Medscape Neurology and Neurosurgery Headlines - March 7, 2014 Category: Neurology Tags: Neurology & Neurosurgery News Alert Source Type: news
Zolpidem and drunk driving - Sjöberg C.
[Abstract unavailable]
Language: sv... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - March 6, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
Opinion: Kerry Kennedy and Drugged Driving - Not Guilty
Kerry Kennedy
Drew Angerer / Getty ImagesI rarely post Opinion blogs, but this case struck a nerve. I have some insight into the case of Kerry Kennedy, daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, who went on trial for drugged driving and yesterday was acquitted by the jury. Kennedy began driving erratically while driving on a highway, eventually hitting a tractor-trailer and continuing to drive. She said she mistook one bottle of pills for another that morning, taking zolpidem (brand name Ambien) instead of her thyroid medicine, and had no idea she was impaired at the time.
The prosecution argued that she must have known some...
Source: About.com Bipolar Disorder - February 28, 2014 Category: Psychiatry Source Type: news
Driving Under the Influence of Ambien
In the trial of Kerry Kennedy, she recently disclosed in testimony her belief that she mistakenly took Ambien instead of her thyroid medication and that his contributed to an accident in 2012 in which she swerved and hit a tractor trailer. This raises important concerns about the effects of Ambien on driving, both when taken accidentally in the day or when its effects last into the morning.
Ambien is typically prescribed as a sleeping pill. It is sold under the generic name of zolpidem. It may come in an extended-release form called Ambien CR or as a lower dose to be taken in the middle of the night called Intermezzo. Onc...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - February 26, 2014 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
Zolpidem-induced suicide attempt: A case report - Mortaz Hejri S, Faizi M, Babaeian M.
Zolpidem is a popular drug indicated for the short-term treatment of insomnia. Side effects are not uncommon with zolpidem. Herein we describe an Iranian 27-year-old man with no known mood disorder or neuropsychological disease who attempted suicide upon t... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - January 12, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
Scientists say sleeping pill Stilnoct can increase the risk of heart attacks
Experts from China Medical University, Taiwan, claim taking 60 zolpidem pills, prescribed in the UK under the name Stilnoct, can increase the risk by as much as 50%. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - January 8, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Tox on the web: a new sleeping pill
A new kind of sleeping pill: The most interesting read of the week is Ian Parker’s New Yorker article “The Big Sleep” that goes into detail about the history of sedative/hypnotics, and describes attempts to develop a sleeping pill based on a unique mechanism. Suvorexant, a Merck product that seems poised to hit the market shortly, blocks receptors for orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter that promotes wakefulness. Notably, orexin does not work — as do barbiturates and benzodiazepines — by enhancing the effect of the neuro-inhibitor γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). It is fascinating to follow t...
Source: The Poison Review - December 8, 2013 Category: Toxicology Authors: Leon Tags: Medical cobalt-60 New Yorker orexin polonium-210 sleeping pill suvorexant yasser arafat Source Type: news
Why Is Actelion Suppressing Phase III Data?
I highly recommend a terrific article by Ian Parker in this week's New Yorker about Merck's efforts to develop a novel insomnia drug, suvorexant. Normally I don't write about non-cardiology topics but I want here to call attention to one small, almost tangential detail buried in the middle of the story. It's not about the Merck drug but about another orexin antagonist from Actelion, almorexant:
"At the time, Jed Black, the Stanford sleep specialist, was on a two-year leave of absence, working full time on almorexant, the rival drug made by Actelion. Phase III trials of the drug were under way. This wor...
Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News - December 6, 2013 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Larry Husten Source Type: news
Awakened by a sleeping pill - Akeju O, Brown EN.
Characteristic changes in brain activity accompany the paradoxical increase in alertness observed in some patients with severe brain injury when they are treated with the sleeping pill zolpidem.
Language: Eng... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - December 2, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Alcohol and Other Drugs Source Type: news
