Insomnia & Sleep Drugs in Children
A study found that among children visiting child psychologists for mental health issues, 20% of preschoolers, and a third of school-aged children and adolescents, suffer from insomnia.
Researchers also discovered many of these young patients receive drugs to promote sleep. This is a substantial percentage to have sleep problems.
The psychologists prescribed drugs to alleviate the impact late-onset sleep and disturbed sleep have on daytime functioning; also, medications prescribed for psychological issues may have a negative effect on sleep.
Despite prescribing a wide array of sleep medications, the psychologists expressed concerns about the use of sleep medications – including sedatives, antihistamines and antidepressants – by children with many pointing out that little data exist on the effectiveness and safety of these drugs in children and adolescents.
The researchers concluded there is need for further study on appropriate treatment choices for children with sleep problems. They also reported that past studies found behavioral treatments such as relaxation techniques, sleep restriction and cognitive behavioral therapy to be effective for childhood insomnia.
This study will appear in the August 2010 
print issue of the journal, Sleep Medicine. Further details can be read online now at: http://bit.ly/aYBILR.
Prescription Drug & Illegal Drug Abuse Neck & Neck
A new study shows that for the first time, abuse of prescription or over-the-counter medications results in as many cases of emergency room (ER) visits as those resulting from cocaine, heroin or other illegal drug abuses.
In 2008, there were one million ER cases of legal drug abuses, mostly painkillers and sedatives – and that was about the same number of cases of ER visits from illegal drugs. Just five years ago, statistics show, illegal drug ER incidents were double that of prescription drug cases. Some of the increase in legal drug problems may come from mixing several prescription drugs or from combining them with alcohol.
The director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy released a statement suggesting that, “the abuse of prescription drugs is our nation’s fastest-growing drug problem.“ The report was released June 18, 2010 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and can be read online at: http://bit.ly/d7giwz.