Many Kids Taking Sleeping PillsNovember 17, 2005
Research Summary
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any sleeping pills for use by children, but an estimated 180,000 Americans under age 20 take prescription sleep aids, anyway, the New York Times reported Nov. 20.A study by Medco Health Solutions found that use of sleeping pills by those under age 20 has increased 85 percent since 2000.
Many adolescents have trouble sleeping, whether because of stress, over-stimulation, or changes in their body clock. But doctors worry that sleeping pills may be over-prescribed when it comes to youth.
"The last thing we want to suggest is that it's O.K. to throw a medication at something without understanding the problem," said Judith Owens, director of the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Clinic at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, R.I. "Insomnia is a symptom, not a disorder. It's like pain. You're not going to give a patient pain medication without figuring out what's causing the pain."
A survey of pediatricians conducted in 2003 found that clonidine and other alpha agonists were the sleep aids most commonly prescribed to kids, followed by prescription antihistamines, antidepressants, and benzodiazepines like Valium. Newer medications, like Sonata, Ambien, and Lunesta, are more targeted than these drugs and may be less addictive, experts said. Short-acting Sonata and Ambien may be more appropriate for teens than the long-lasting Lunesta, doctors add.
But because of the lack of FDA approval, doctors often are uncertain how much of these drugs should be given to children. "The absurdity of this is that a lot of times we're put in a position of saying, 'Well, I guess we'll just give them half the adult dose,'" Owens said. "We're sort of flying by the seat of our pants here." Added Mary A. Carskadon, a sleep researcher at Brown Medical School and Bradley Hospital: "We need more studies, because we need to know how sleeping pills are affecting learning and memory, much less sleep."
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