Effect of zolpidem on sleep architecture and its next-morning residual effect in insomniac patients: a randomized crossover comparative study with brotizolam.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of zolpidem (ZOL) 10 mg orally on the sleep architecture and the next-morning residual effect in patients with non-organic insomnia (ICD-10) as compared to the effect of brotizolam (BTM) 0.25 mg orally, a widely used short-acting benzodiazepine (BZD) hypnotic in Japan, in a randomized, crossover comparative study. Fourteen patients with non-organic insomnia (3 males and 11 females; mean age of 54.

Effects of aroma on sleep and biological rhythms.

The polysomnogram (PSG), blood melatonin concentration, rectal temperature, and answers to a self-evaluation questionnaire about the effects of agarwood (jinkoh in Japanese), which has been reported to have sleep-promoting effects were examined. The subjects tested were male medical students, who were free of otorhinolaryngological diseases and were non-smokers. The results of sleep stage and other sleep variables, and those of rectal temperature rhythm and blood melatonin concentrations showed no significant differences between the baseline nights, experimental nights, and recovery nights.

Situation and problem of administration methods and the intermission of hypnotics.

The results of a questionnaire survey suggested four problems that might prolong the administration of benzodiazepine hypnotics without suspending the medication. First, psychiatrists did not actively consider the necessity of suspension of medication with hypnotics. Second, the period between improvement of insomnia and initiation of dose reduction was long, whereas the period between initiation of dose reduction and discontinuation was short.