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CNN Live At Daybreak

New Sleeping Pills

Aired January 15, 2004 - 06:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Did you get enough sleep last night? Expect to hear a lot more about sleep in the coming months, how much you need sleep and maybe even sleeping pills. A new effort is under way to expand the use of sleeping pills. And it just so happens that two new sleeping pills, Astora (ph) and Endoplan (ph) are expected to be available later this year.
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here to give us some insight and it, you know, I'm cynical.

Does this come from the drug companies?

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, let's put it like this, this is a huge potential market for the drug companies. Seventy million people out there with sleep problems. The National Sleep Foundation says that 40 percent of Americans have problems sleeping at one time or another, 10 to 15 percent have chronic sleeping problems. So if the drug companies can expand this market, it could be a gold mine.

But first they're going to have to prove that sleep, the newer sleeping pills are safer. Remember, sleeping pills are now considered to be controlled substances. They're -- people are afraid they'll get addicted to them. And even the newer sleeping pills say on the package that they only should be taken for at most seven to 10 days at a time.

COSTELLO: So specifically about these two new drugs, are they safer than the ones already out there?

FRYHOFER: Well, we're not sure yet. You know, they haven't been approved by the FDA. But sleeping pills have gone through several different generations. The oldest ones were downers, barbiturates. Lots of problems with addiction and overdose in the 1970s. The benzodiazepines were introduced. These were things like Halcion and Restoril. Halcion was actually taken off the market in some of the European countries because they found that people that took it got amnesia.

And finally in the 1990s, the non-benzodiazepines, Ambien and Sonata, are the two here.

All of them work the same. All of them are particularly dangerous if combined with alcohol. They work by binding to a receptor in the nervous system called the gaba receptor. And the newer ones are just supposed to be more specific for the receptor that promotes sleep. COSTELLO: It's so tempting to take sleeping pills because I suffer from insomnia. I mean sometimes I cannot sleep. And time moves so very slowly. So I'm afraid to ask you this question, but how does that affect my life and the others around me if I don't get enough sleep?

FRYHOFER: Well, there -- a lot of, you know, the drug companies that this happens and they're able to explain the use, you're going to hear a media blitz. You're going to -- everyone's going to know about the dangers of insomnia. But certainly, you know, things like the safety issues. People might have more difficulty working or driving if they're sleepy. There's some evidence that it actually might even be linked to increasing the blood pressure and the body may not metabolize glucose quite as well.

But the trick, Carol, is there's no study that can show that treating the chronic insomnia actually staves off any of these conditions.

COSTELLO: Really?

FRYHOFER: And so -- and I think a lot of doctors are still pretty wary about sleeping pills. Even if these new ones come out, I think it's going to take a while before we're comfortable. I'm a little old-fashioned. I think you need to go back to why you're not having -- not able to sleep in the first place. And I, you know, say, you know, tell people to look at nicotine, cut out the nicotine, cut out the alcohol. Alcohol is a biggie. It makes you go to sleep initially, but then as soon as it wears off you wake up just wide awake. You know, exercise. And if you're sleeping and you wake up, don't just lay there. Give yourself about 15 minutes and then get up and read a boring book in dim light.

COSTELLO: Oh, you know what happened to me last night? I couldn't sleep so I decided to read a story on the Iowa caucuses, because I thought oh that...

FRYHOFER: And it worked, didn't it?

COSTELLO: No, I became interested in it and I couldn't sleep.

FRYHOFER: Well, what can we say, Carol?

COSTELLO: I know. I'll try harder.

FRYHOFER: You're always on the cusp of what's happening and the Iowa caucus is what's happening.

COSTELLO: That's true.

Dr. Sandy, thanks for the advice.

We appreciate it.

For more on this and any other health story, head to cnn.com/health. You'll find links to major medical Web sites, a full glossary of medical jargon and all the latest health headlines. That's at cnn.com/health.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 15, 2004 - 06:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Did you get enough sleep last night? Expect to hear a lot more about sleep in the coming months, how much you need sleep and maybe even sleeping pills. A new effort is under way to expand the use of sleeping pills. And it just so happens that two new sleeping pills, Astora (ph) and Endoplan (ph) are expected to be available later this year.
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here to give us some insight and it, you know, I'm cynical.

Does this come from the drug companies?

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, let's put it like this, this is a huge potential market for the drug companies. Seventy million people out there with sleep problems. The National Sleep Foundation says that 40 percent of Americans have problems sleeping at one time or another, 10 to 15 percent have chronic sleeping problems. So if the drug companies can expand this market, it could be a gold mine.

But first they're going to have to prove that sleep, the newer sleeping pills are safer. Remember, sleeping pills are now considered to be controlled substances. They're -- people are afraid they'll get addicted to them. And even the newer sleeping pills say on the package that they only should be taken for at most seven to 10 days at a time.

COSTELLO: So specifically about these two new drugs, are they safer than the ones already out there?

FRYHOFER: Well, we're not sure yet. You know, they haven't been approved by the FDA. But sleeping pills have gone through several different generations. The oldest ones were downers, barbiturates. Lots of problems with addiction and overdose in the 1970s. The benzodiazepines were introduced. These were things like Halcion and Restoril. Halcion was actually taken off the market in some of the European countries because they found that people that took it got amnesia.

And finally in the 1990s, the non-benzodiazepines, Ambien and Sonata, are the two here.

All of them work the same. All of them are particularly dangerous if combined with alcohol. They work by binding to a receptor in the nervous system called the gaba receptor. And the newer ones are just supposed to be more specific for the receptor that promotes sleep. COSTELLO: It's so tempting to take sleeping pills because I suffer from insomnia. I mean sometimes I cannot sleep. And time moves so very slowly. So I'm afraid to ask you this question, but how does that affect my life and the others around me if I don't get enough sleep?

FRYHOFER: Well, there -- a lot of, you know, the drug companies that this happens and they're able to explain the use, you're going to hear a media blitz. You're going to -- everyone's going to know about the dangers of insomnia. But certainly, you know, things like the safety issues. People might have more difficulty working or driving if they're sleepy. There's some evidence that it actually might even be linked to increasing the blood pressure and the body may not metabolize glucose quite as well.

But the trick, Carol, is there's no study that can show that treating the chronic insomnia actually staves off any of these conditions.

COSTELLO: Really?

FRYHOFER: And so -- and I think a lot of doctors are still pretty wary about sleeping pills. Even if these new ones come out, I think it's going to take a while before we're comfortable. I'm a little old-fashioned. I think you need to go back to why you're not having -- not able to sleep in the first place. And I, you know, say, you know, tell people to look at nicotine, cut out the nicotine, cut out the alcohol. Alcohol is a biggie. It makes you go to sleep initially, but then as soon as it wears off you wake up just wide awake. You know, exercise. And if you're sleeping and you wake up, don't just lay there. Give yourself about 15 minutes and then get up and read a boring book in dim light.

COSTELLO: Oh, you know what happened to me last night? I couldn't sleep so I decided to read a story on the Iowa caucuses, because I thought oh that...

FRYHOFER: And it worked, didn't it?

COSTELLO: No, I became interested in it and I couldn't sleep.

FRYHOFER: Well, what can we say, Carol?

COSTELLO: I know. I'll try harder.

FRYHOFER: You're always on the cusp of what's happening and the Iowa caucus is what's happening.

COSTELLO: That's true.

Dr. Sandy, thanks for the advice.

We appreciate it.

For more on this and any other health story, head to cnn.com/health. You'll find links to major medical Web sites, a full glossary of medical jargon and all the latest health headlines. That's at cnn.com/health.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com