Spaniards increasingly rely more on medicinal plants to combat insomnia

16 dream world day of March

-A study 10.526 patients who take sleeping pills in the US shows that consumption of hypnotic raises mortality 4.6 times

-medicinal plants as the California poppy, passion flower and Valerian allow rest without causing daytime sleepiness

Madrid, March 2012.- three of four Spanish with insomnia prefer your pharmacist to recommend a treatment of vegetable origin that a sleeping pill of synthetic origin, according to an analysis of the Research Centre on phytotherapy (INFIT) given out on the occasion of the world day of sleepon 16 March. 4 of every 10 Spaniards have trouble sleeping, according to latest survey INFIT.

Medicinal plants can help you get a good night’s sleep without the unwanted effects of the psychoactive drugs ”, according to doctor Sacristán, which emphasizes the positive effects of these medicinal preparations excused in pharmacy against insomnia. The most commonly used include the California poppy, passion flower and Valerian. The California poppy is very effective to relieve anxiety and sleep and passion flower is able to prolong the phases of deep sleep and avoid Nighttime Awakenings, stresses Dr. Alberto Sacristán, specialist in medicine family and a member of the Board of Directors of INFIT.

The Spanish are becoming increasingly aware of the side effects of sleeping pills, such as stomach intolerance or the need for one higher dose to get the same effect if taken so long ”, according to Dr. rose Peraita, responsible for the unity of the dream of the Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid.

Some recent research confirms the harmful effects of the hypnotic. A cohort study published last February by the California Viterbi dream Centre and the Jackson Hole Center for Preventive Medicine in Wyoming shows that the consumption of synthetic pills increases mortality 4.6 times and the chances of getting cancer by 35%. The research was carried out over a period of 2.5 years and analyzed the trajectory of 10.529 patients who had been prescribed hypnotics and 23 other 676 receiving no medication. The findings of this study were published in the medical journal BMJ Open.

16% Of Spaniards consume psychoactive drugs (representing 96 million containers per year), and of them 12% makes it without having any anxiety disorder, depression or mental, according to data from the Spanish society for the study of the anxiety and stress (SEAS). This type of drugs can cause daytime sleepiness: lack of sleep can lead to lack of attention, poor concentration and loss of productivity; and even increased risk of work-related accidents and traffic ”, according to doctor Sacristán.

The fear of unemployment

Healthy lifestyle habits little as stress or poor diet are some of the main causes of insomnia. Another circumstance, the economic crisis, is lack of sleep for more than half of Spaniards, according to survey INFIT: 50 per cent cited unemployment or fear of losing the job as the main causes of their problems with insomnia.

Not sleeping enough can lead to numerous health problems, including hypertension, heart attack, stroke or diabetes, according to the international society of sleep medicine alert.