Are Sleeping Pills Really Safe?

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Due to high level of stress and aging factor, American sleeping pills consumption is increasing every year. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, more than 30 percent of adult have some symptoms of insomnia while more than 4 percent use sleeping pills to help them get a good sleep.

Although the use of sleeping pills seems to provide a fast and easy solution to sleep problems, research shows more harm than good comes from this solution, including death. For instance, many famous celebrities have reportedly died due to over consuming sleeping pills.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there are lots of side effects of using sleeping pills. This includes complex sleep-related behaviors such as sleep walking, sleep eating and doing other activities without even realizing it. Other side effects include allergic reaction.

Another interesting research shows that people who take sleeping pills are at a greater risk for daytime accident, reports NBC News. Findings show that people who take sleeping pills have risk estimates equivalent to having a blood alcohol level as high as 0.11 percent, which is 0.03 percent higher than the set limit in the United States.

The sleeping pill brands used in the research are Ambien, Oleptro and Restoril. Among the brands, Ambien users had the highest risk for car accidents; "they were more than twice as likely as non-users to have a car crash over the five years," NBC News notes.

"I hope that people who are taking these medications, who need to take these medications, will take a moment to talk to their doctor and pharmacist and really better understand the risks that are associated with this," Ryan Hansen, lead author of the study, says.

According to the FDA, there are other ways to get decent sleep at night aside from sleeping pills, including avoiding certain food and drinks before bedtime such as donuts, coffee, wine and beer. Other ways to get better sleep is to avoid doing any strenuous exercise at least 2 hours before bed and try to sleep in a dark and quiet room.