Sleeping pills estimated to cause 320,000 to 507,000 excess deaths per year in US alone

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Monday, April 02, 2012 11:10 am Email this article
Sleeping pills are estimated to cause 320,000 to 507,000 excess deaths per year in US alone according to a recent study by researchers at Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Center in La Jolla, California, USA.

"Rough order-of-magnitude estimates at the end of the supplemental files suggest that in 2010, hypnotics may have been associated with 320 000 to 507 000 excess deaths in the USA alone," the paper notes.

Subjects

Subjects: 10,000+ people taking sleeping pills vs 23,000+ not taking sleeping pills

The study followed 10,529 people given prescriptions for sleeping pills and compared them with 23,636 matched controls who had not been given a prescription for sleeping pills.

Follow-up Period

Average follow-up of 2.5 years

The subjects were followed for an average of 2.5 years.

REFERENCE

Kripke D, Langer R, Kline L. Hypnotics’ association with mortality or cancer: A matched cohort study. BMJ Open. 2012, 2(1):e000850.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr Daniel F Kripke
Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Center
La Jolla, California, USA
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Other Articles

Other articles about sleeping pills

• Sleeping pills estimated to cause 320,000 to 507,000 excess deaths per year in US alone
• People taking sleeping pills were 4.6 times more likely to die over 2.5 years
• People taking 1 to 18 sleeping pills per year were 3.6 times more likely to die over 2.5 years
• People taking 18 to 132 sleeping pills per year were 4.4 times more likely to die over 2.5 years
• People taking more than 132 sleeping pills per year were 5.3 times more likely to die over 2.5 years
• Controlling for poor health did NOT explain the excess deaths associated with sleeping pills
• People taking more than 18 to 132 sleeping pills per were 20% more likely to get cancer in 2.5 years
• People taking more than 132 sleeping pills per year were 35% more likely to get cancer in 2.5 years
• Sleeping pills increase risk of depression, suicide, infections, hypertension, CVD, heart failure
• Try L-tryptophan or pumpkin seeds or raw milk instead of sleeping pills

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Cancer

• Sleep

• Sleeping pills