ABSTRACT
About one-third of the adult American population is affected by insomnia. Of the 1000 adults interviewed by telephone for the 1991 National Sleep Foundation Survey, a total of 36% reported an occasional (27%) or a chronic (9%) sleep problem.1 People, it seems, have always used medication to promote sleep. Opium and alcohol were both used to promote sleep in ancient times. In the 1800s, morphine, potassium bromide, and chloral hydrate were used to promote sleep, and in the 20th century, the barbiturates were introduced. All these medications, although effective in inducing sleep, put patients at risk for developing tolerance, experiencing withdrawal effects, or suffering a fatal overdose. The modern era of pharmacology for sleep began in 1960, when the first benzodiazepine anxiolytic compound, chlordiazepoxide (Librium) was introduced into the market. Since then, benzodiazepines have replaced the older sedative-hypnotics mentioned above, mainly because of their safer sideeffect profile.
