Health Discoveries in General Health News
Sleep drugs can have groggy effect after waking
January 18, 2011
Even the healthiest senior may wake up feeling groggy and confused if they take commonly-used sleep drugs, according to a study published recently in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.
A research team from the University of Colorado at Boulder found that sleep drugs that contain zolpidem - sold under several brand names - can have a broad, numbing effect on the brain that can last for at least 30 minutes after waking. For seniors, that sensation could leave them more vulnerable to stumbling and falls.
"If you have an individual who, even when they take their sleep medications, they wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, they need to be aware that they are at greater risk of falling," said researcher Kenneth Wright.
The researchers tested healthy adults for balance and problem-solving after they had taken the sleep drug. After waking, 58 percent of those over age 60 were walking slower and unsteadily and 27 percent of those below age 60 showed lessened, but similar symptoms.
Within the North Shore-LIJ Health System, a clinical trial is under way that focuses on ways to treat "obstructive" sleep apnea, a complex sleep disorder in which a blockage occurs in the airway during sleep.
A research team from the University of Colorado at Boulder found that sleep drugs that contain zolpidem - sold under several brand names - can have a broad, numbing effect on the brain that can last for at least 30 minutes after waking. For seniors, that sensation could leave them more vulnerable to stumbling and falls.
"If you have an individual who, even when they take their sleep medications, they wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, they need to be aware that they are at greater risk of falling," said researcher Kenneth Wright.
The researchers tested healthy adults for balance and problem-solving after they had taken the sleep drug. After waking, 58 percent of those over age 60 were walking slower and unsteadily and 27 percent of those below age 60 showed lessened, but similar symptoms.
Within the North Shore-LIJ Health System, a clinical trial is under way that focuses on ways to treat "obstructive" sleep apnea, a complex sleep disorder in which a blockage occurs in the airway during sleep.