Talk
therapy beats drugs for insomnia
Boston researchers have found that cognitive behavioral therapy
is more effective than sleeping pills in treating chronic sleep-onset
insomnia.
In
a study summarized in the Sept. 27 issue of the Archives of Internal
Medicine, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
and Harvard Medical School found non-drug techniques yield better
short- and long-term results than the most widely prescribed sleeping
pill, zolpidem, commonly known as Ambien.
It
is the first placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the separate
and combined effects of the CBT and pharmacological therapies
in treating insomnia in young and middle-aged adults.
"Sleeping
pills are the most frequent treatment for insomnia, yet, CBT techniques
clearly were more successful in helping the majority of study
participants to become normal sleepers. The pills were found to
be only moderately effective compared to CBT and lost their effectiveness
as soon as they were discontinued," said study leader Gregg
Jacobs.
"Our
results suggest CBT should now be considered the first line treatment
for insomnia, which is experienced on a nightly basis by one-third
of the nation's adult population."
Insomnia
affects more than 70 million Americans and is one of the most
common complaints brought to physician's offices.
Copyright
2004 by United Press International.
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