Sleeping Pills May Not Be Best Way for Seniors to Get Good Night’s Sleep
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Have trouble falling asleep at night? Before you reach for a pill you should hear the results of a recent study that found sleep medications are twice as likely to cause harm to a senior patient than they are to help them sleep better.
“Probably about 50 percent of older adults complain of sleep related problems,” says Jill Studley, M.D., gerontologist on the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas.
Millions of seniors ask their physicians for sedatives or sleeping pills or even get them over-the-counter, but new studies demonstrate how dangerous taking these medications can be for older adults. According to recent research, these drugs are twice as likely to cause an accident than they are to help you sleep.
“You won’t function as well in the morning, you may be at a higher risk for falling, having a car crash, or display problems with cognitive dysfunction so it’s very important to ask yourself: ‘Do I really want to take the risks for taking this medication,’” explains Dr. Studley.
So what’s a possible better solution? Studies have found that doing simple things like cutting out caffeine, exercising and going to sleep and waking at the same time each day can really help.
“Don’t go for the medication first. Look into why you’re having the sleep problems, have your doctor do a good review of medications and have your doctor talk to you about good sleep hygiene as well because we’ve found in some studies that good sleep hygiene is as efficacious as using a medication to sleep,” adds Dr. Studley.
Over the counter sleep medications may be safer than prescription drugs, but even they can cause problems sometimes. Be sure and tell your doctor about all the medications that you take - both prescription and non-prescription.
Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas
http://www.BaylorHealth.com
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