IT is midnight and you are staring at the bedroom ceiling, thinking about work, expenses or the kids. Sleep just won’t come. Before you reach for that sleeping pill, you may want to think again. Do you know that relying on them may put your life at risk?

Sleeping pills help us to have a decent night sleep, especially when one cannot do it on one’s own. But a new research by scientists in Pennsylvania in the United States of America has revealed that these pills may be doing more than knocking you out.

The study, which involved over 10,000 patients who took sleeping pills and 20,000 matched patients who did not, shows that users are four times likely to die from it than non-users.

According to the lead scientist, Dr. Daniel Kripke, patients who took sleeping pills died 4.6 times as often during follow-ups averaging 2.5 years.

It also shows that the patients who took higher doses (averaging over 132 pills per year) died five times as often, while those who took fewer than 18 pills per year had very significantly elevated mortality than patients who were not using it.

Kripke, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, who began looking at a possible link between sleeping pills and death risk in 1975, also links indiscriminate use of sleeping pills to cancer.

“We found out that those who averaged over 132 sleeping pills per year were 35 per cent more likely to develop a new cancer. We are not certain. But it looks like sleeping pills could be as risky as smoking cigarettes,” he says.

Also, results from clinical trials conducted by the Food and Drug Administration in the 1980s show that rats and mice that were given high doses of some sleeping pills developed cancer.

The report states, “The sleeping pills broke chromosomes, which is a well-known specific chemical mechanism by which drugs cause cancer. The animals that were given a particular pill in the market that contained zolpidem developed three kinds of cancer. We are concerned about these hints of carcinogenicity.”

An analysis of studies financed by the National Institutes of Health found that sleeping pills had chemical substances that were hypnotic in nature and could impair brain activity the next day.

One of the experts in the study, a sleep disorders specialist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Dr. Gary Richardson, says taking sleeping pills is well known to impair brain and bodily function the following day and, so, it should not be taken as an alternative to getting a refreshing sleep.

He says, “Unlike getting a restful night’s sleep, which will leave you alert and refreshed, getting slightly more sleep (or what you think is more sleep) by taking a sleeping pill is not the same thing. Sleeping pills make your brain less active and they produce immediate impairments in memory and performance. Furthermore, there is extensive evidence that these pills on average impair performance and memory on the following day.”

Richardson notes that the hangover feeling users experience from taking sleeping aids may cause confusion, sleepiness and increase their risks for falls and automobile accidents.

He states, “Certain sleeping pills are very strong and they can have a half life of about 18 hours. So, if you take them every night, you’re basically sedated for a large portion of the day as well! Not surprisingly, they’re associated with cognitive deficits in the morning.

They note that most sleeping pills are potent anti-cholinergics, which suppress REM sleep and dreaming and this could increase the risk for dementia in seniors and hallucination in young people.

Instead of depending on drugs, here are some tips that would help you overcome sleeplessness.

Cover your windows with blackout shades or drapes to ensure complete darkness.

Even the tiniest bit of light in the room can disrupt your internal clock and your pineal gland’s production of melatonin and serotonin. (Even the faint glow from your clock radio could be interfering with your sleep.)

Also close your bedroom door, get rid of night-lights and refrain from turning on any light during the night, even when getting up to go to the bathroom. If you have to use a light, install “low blue” light bulbs in your bedroom and bathroom. These emit an amber or red light that will not suppress your natural melatonin production.

Keep the temperature in your bedroom at or below 70 degrees F (21 degrees Celsius). Many people keep their homes and particularly their upstairs bedrooms too warm. Studies show that the optimal room temperature for sleep is quite cool, between 60 to 68 degrees F (15.5 to 20 C). Keeping your room cooler or hotter can lead to restless sleep.

When you sleep, your body’s internal temperature drops to its lowest level, generally about four hours after you fall asleep. Scientists believe a cooler bedroom may therefore be most conducive to sleep, since it mimics your body’s natural temperature drop.

Check your bedroom for electro-magnetic fields

These can disrupt your pineal gland and the production of melatonin and serotonin, and may have other negative effects as well.

Some experts even recommend pulling your circuit breaker before bed to kill all power in your house. Move alarm clocks and other electrical devices away from your head. If these devices must be used, keep them as far away from your bed as possible, preferably at least three feet.

Shut down

If you are feeling anxious or restless, try to shut down emotional problems two hours before sleep. This can help you to address psychological issues that might keep you tossing and turning at night.

PUNCH.