-
1.
Highs, Lows, and Health Hazards of Herbology: A Review of Herbal Medications with Psychotropic Effects.
Smith-Stephens, SL
The Nursing clinics of North America. 2021;(1):137-152
Abstract
Mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and insomnia, are leading causes of hospitalization and disability for young and middle-aged adults. Approximately one-half of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness during their lifetime. Plants and roots have been used as medicinal agents since the beginning of recorded time. Complementary and alternative medicine or complementary integrative medicine use has been increasing throughout most socioeconomic classes, cultures, and age categories. This article reviews herbal and alternative therapies used to treat anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Indications for use, patient education, and possible interactions with conventional prescribed psychotropic medications are analyzed.
-
2.
Sleep-Wake Disorders in Childhood.
Licis, A
Continuum (Minneapolis, Minn.). 2020;(4):1034-1069
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW The presentation of sleep issues in childhood differs from the presentation in adulthood and may be more subtle. Sleep issues may affect children differently than adults, and distinct treatment approaches are often used in children. RECENT FINDINGS Sodium oxybate was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2018 for an expanded indication of treatment of sleepiness or cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy type 1 or narcolepsy type 2 aged 7 years or older, with side effect and safety profiles similar to those seen in adults. Restless sleep disorder is a recently proposed entity in which restless sleep, daytime sleepiness, and often iron deficiency are observed, but children do not meet the criteria for restless legs syndrome or periodic limb movement disorder. SUMMARY Children's sleep is discussed in this article, including normal sleep patterns and effects of insufficient sleep. Sleep disorders of childhood are reviewed, including insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, parasomnias, narcolepsy, and Kleine-Levin syndrome. Children with neurologic issues or neurodevelopmental disorders frequently have sleep disorders arising from an interaction of heterogeneous factors. Further attention to sleep may often be warranted through a polysomnogram or referral to a pediatric sleep specialist. Sleep disorders may cause indelible effects on children's cognitive functioning, general health, and well-being, and awareness of sleep disorders is imperative for neurologists who treat children.
-
3.
Individual vulnerability to insomnia, excessive sleepiness and shift work disorder amongst healthcare shift workers. A systematic review.
Booker, LA, Magee, M, Rajaratnam, SMW, Sletten, TL, Howard, ME
Sleep medicine reviews. 2018;:220-233
Abstract
Shift workers often experience reduced sleep quality, duration and/or excessive sleepiness due to the imposed conflict between work and their circadian system. About 20-30% of shift workers experience prominent insomnia symptoms and excessive daytime sleepiness consistent with the circadian rhythm sleep disorder known as shift work disorder. Individual factors may influence this vulnerability to shift work disorder or sleep-related impairment associated with shift work. This paper was registered with Prospero and was conducted using recommended standards for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Published literature that measured sleep-related impairment associated with shift work including reduced sleep quality and duration and increased daytime sleepiness amongst healthcare shift workers and explored characteristics associated with individual variability were reviewed. Fifty-eight studies were included. Older age, morning-type, circadian flexibility, being married or having children, increased caffeine intake, higher scores on neuroticism and lower on hardiness were related to a higher risk of sleep-related impairment in response to shift work, whereas physical activity was a protective factor. The review highlights the diverse range of measurement tools used to evaluate the impact of shift work on sleep. Use of standardised and validated tools would enable cross-study comparisons. Longitudinal studies are required to establish causal relationships between individual factors and the development of shift work disorder.
-
4.
Drugs for Insomnia beyond Benzodiazepines: Pharmacology, Clinical Applications, and Discovery.
Atkin, T, Comai, S, Gobbi, G
Pharmacological reviews. 2018;(2):197-245
Abstract
Although the GABAergic benzodiazepines (BZDs) and Z-drugs (zolpidem, zopiclone, and zaleplon) are FDA-approved for insomnia disorders with a strong evidence base, they have many side effects, including cognitive impairment, tolerance, rebound insomnia upon discontinuation, car accidents/falls, abuse, and dependence liability. Consequently, the clinical use of off-label drugs and novel drugs that do not target the GABAergic system is increasing. The purpose of this review is to analyze the neurobiological and clinical evidence of pharmacological treatments of insomnia, excluding the BZDs and Z-drugs. We analyzed the melatonergic agonist drugs, agomelatine, prolonged-release melatonin, ramelteon, and tasimelteon; the dual orexin receptor antagonist suvorexant; the modulators of the α2δ subunit of voltage-sensitive calcium channels, gabapentin and pregabalin; the H1 antagonist, low-dose doxepin; and the histamine and serotonin receptor antagonists, amitriptyline, mirtazapine, trazodone, olanzapine, and quetiapine. The pharmacology and mechanism of action of these treatments and the evidence-base for the use of these drugs in clinical practice is outlined along with novel pipelines. There is evidence to recommend suvorexant and low-dose doxepin for sleep maintenance insomnia; there is also sufficient evidence to recommend ramelteon for sleep onset insomnia. Although there is limited evidence for the use of the quetiapine, trazodone, mirtazapine, amitriptyline, pregabalin, gabapentin, agomelatine, and olanzapine as treatments for insomnia disorder, these drugs may improve sleep while successfully treating comorbid disorders, with a different side effect profile than the BZDs and Z-drugs. The unique mechanism of action of each drug allows for a more personalized and targeted medical management of insomnia.
-
5.
Cannabidiol in medical marijuana: Research vistas and potential opportunities.
Rong, C, Lee, Y, Carmona, NE, Cha, DS, Ragguett, RM, Rosenblat, JD, Mansur, RB, Ho, RC, McIntyre, RS
Pharmacological research. 2017;:213-218
Abstract
The high and increasing prevalence of medical marijuana consumption in the general population invites the need for quality evidence regarding its safety and efficacy. Herein, we synthesize extant literature pertaining to the phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) and its brain effects. The principle phytocannabinoid Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) and CBD are the major pharmacologically active cannabinoids. The effect of CBD on brain systems as well as on phenomenological measures (e.g. cognitive function) are distinct and in many cases opposite to that of Δ9-THC. Cannabidiol is without euphoriant properties, and exerts antipsychotic, anxiolytic, anti-seizure, as well as anti-inflammatory properties. It is essential to parcellate phytocannabinoids into their constituent moieties as the most abundant cannabinoid have differential effects on physiologic systems in psychopathology measures. Disparate findings and reports related to effects of cannabis consumption reflect differential relative concentration of Δ9-THC and CBD. Existing literature, notwithstanding its deficiencies, provides empirical support for the hypothesis that CBD may exert beneficial effects on brain effector systems/substrates subserving domain-based phenomenology. Interventional studies with purified CBD are warranted with a call to target-engagement proof-of-principle studies using the research domain criteria (RDoC) framework.
-
6.
Insomnia heterogeneity: Characteristics to consider for data-driven multivariate subtyping.
Benjamins, JS, Migliorati, F, Dekker, K, Wassing, R, Moens, S, Blanken, TF, Te Lindert, BHW, Sjauw Mook, J, Van Someren, EJW
Sleep medicine reviews. 2017;:71-81
Abstract
Meta-analyses and systematic reviews have reported surprisingly few consistent insomnia-characteristics with respect to cognitions, mood, traits, history of life events and family history. One interpretation of this limited consistency is that different subtypes of insomnia exist, each with its own specific multivariate profile of characteristics. Because previously unrecognized subtypes will be differentially represented in individual studies and dilute effect sizes of subtype-dependent characteristics of importance, they are unlikely to be reported consistently in individual studies, let alone in meta-analyses. This review therefore aims to complement meta-analyses by listing previously reported psychometric characteristics of insomnia, irrespective of the degree of consistency over studies. The review clearly indicates that characteristics of insomnia may not be limited to sleep. Reports suggest that at least some individuals with insomnia may deviate from people without sleep complaints with respect to demographics, mental and physical health, childhood trauma, life events, fatigue, sleepiness, hyperarousal, hyperactivity, other sleep disorders, lifetime sleep history, chronotype, depression, anxiety, mood, quality of life, personality, happiness, worry, rumination, self-consciousness, sensitivity, dysfunctional beliefs, self-conscious emotion regulation, coping, nocturnal mentation, wake resting-state mentation, physical activity, food intake, temperature perception and hedonic evaluation. The value of this list of characteristics is that 1) internet has now made it feasible to asses them all in a large sample of people suffering from insomnia, and 2) statistical methods like latent class analysis and community detection can utilize them for a truly bottom-up data-driven search for subtypes. The supplement to this review provides a blueprint of this multivariate approach as implemented in the Sleep registry platform (www.sleepregistry.nl), that allows for bottom-up subtyping and fosters cross-cultural comparison and worldwide collaboration on insomnia subtype finding - and beyond.
-
7.
Ziziphus spinosa seeds for insomnia: A review of chemistry and psychopharmacology.
Shergis, JL, Ni, X, Sarris, J, Zhang, AL, Guo, X, Xue, CC, Lu, C, Hugel, H
Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology. 2017;:38-43
Abstract
BACKGROUND In Chinese medicine, Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H. F. Chou is widely used for the treatment of insomnia. PURPOSE/SECTIONS This paper summarises the chemistry, psychopharmacology, and compares the pharmaceutical effects of the seeds of Ziziphus jujuba plant, Ziziphus spinosa (ZS) seeds, with benzodiazepines. Whole extracts and constituent compounds have been evaluated in preclinical and clinical studies. CONCLUSIONS ZS secondary metabolites modulate GABAergic activity and the serotonergic system. The actual therapeutic agents require further confirmation/identification so that new insomnia phytomedicines can be discovered.
-
8.
Risk of insomnia with non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Caldeira, D, Barra, M, Santos, AT, de Abreu, D, Costa, J, Ferreira, JJ
Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung. 2015;(3):1043-9
Abstract
PURPOSE Insomnia is an important adverse event of mechanical thromboprophylaxis. This sleep disorder has been reported as one of the commonest adverse events of the new oral anti-Xa anticoagulant darexaban, with similar rates to mechanical thromboprophylaxis in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). However, the perceived effect could have been biased because it was an open-label RCT. Therefore, we aimed to review the incidence of insomnia with non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs). METHODS We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of Phase III RCTs. Electronic databases MEDLINE and CENTRAL (inception to September 2013) were searched as well as review articles and references of included studies. We included phase III RCTs which compared NOACs with any other control group. Data were analyzed and pooled to estimate risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for insomnia using inverse variance method. Statistical heterogeneity was evaluated with I(2) test. RESULTS We included seven studies (two apixaban RCTs, two dabigatran RCTs, one darexaban RCTs, and two rivaroxaban RCTs), enrolling a total of 23,023 patients. Overall, NOACs were not associated to an increased risk of insomnia: RR 0.94 (95%CI 0.83-1.08; I(2) = 0%). In blinded studies (six studies), NOACs also did not show increased risk of insomnia (RR 0.94, 95%CI 0.83-1.08; I(2) = 0%). Results were similar irrespective of the comparators. CONCLUSIONS NOACs (apixaban, dabigatran, darexaban, rivaroxaban) did not show increased risk of insomnia. Results according to study design (blinded vs. open-label trials) overlap the main analysis.
-
9.
Efficacy and safety of Suanzaoren decoction for primary insomnia: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
Xie, CL, Gu, Y, Wang, WW, Lu, L, Fu, DL, Liu, AJ, Li, HQ, Li, JH, Lin, Y, Tang, WJ, et al
BMC complementary and alternative medicine. 2013;:18
Abstract
BACKGROUND Insomnia is a widespread human health problem, but there currently are the limitations of conventional therapies available. Suanzaoren decoction (SZRD) is a well known classic Chinese herbal prescription for insomnia and has been treating people's insomnia for more than thousand years. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SZRD for insomnia. METHODS A systematic literature search was performed for 6 databases up to July of 2012 to identify randomized control trials (RCTs) involving SZRD for insomniac patients. The methodological quality of RCTs was assessed independently using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. RESULTS Twelve RCTs with total of 1376 adult participants were identified. The methodological quality of all included trials are no more than 3/8 score. Majority of the RCTs concluded that SZRD was more significantly effective than benzodiazepines for treating insomnia. Despite these positive outcomes, there were many methodological shortcomings in the studies reviewed, including insufficient information about randomization generation and absence of allocation concealment, lack of blinding and no placebo control, absence of intention-to-treat analysis and lack of follow-ups, selective publishing and reporting, and small number of sample sizes. A number of clinical heterogeneity such as diagnosis, intervention, control, and outcome measures were also reviewed. Only 3 trials reported adverse events, whereas the other 9 trials did not provide the safety information. CONCLUSIONS Despite the apparent reported positive findings, there is insufficient evidence to support efficacy of SZRD for insomnia due to the poor methodological quality and the small number of trials of the included studies. SZRD seems generally safe, but is insufficient evidence to make conclusions on the safety because fewer studies reported the adverse events. Further large sample-size and well-designed RCTs are needed.
-
10.
Bach flower remedies: a systematic review of randomised clinical trials.
Ernst, E
Swiss medical weekly. 2010;:w13079
Abstract
Bach flower remedies continue to be popular and its proponents make a range of medicinal claims for them. The aim of this systematic review was to critically evaluate the evidence for these claims. Five electronic databases were searched without restrictions on time or language. All randomised clinical trials of flower remedies were included. Seven such studies were located. All but one were placebo-controlled. All placebo-controlled trials failed to demonstrate efficacy. It is concluded that the most reliable clinical trials do not show any differences between flower remedies and placebos.