• DOI:10.1111/j.1527-3458.1998.tb00074.x
• Corpus ID: 15138887

The Pharmacology and Mechanism of Action of Zolpidem.

@article{Sanger1998ThePA,
  title={The Pharmacology and Mechanism of Action of Zolpidem.},
  author={David J. Sanger and Henri Depoortere},
  journal={CNS drug reviews},
  year={1998},
  volume={4 4},
  pages={
          323-340
        }
}

• D. Sanger, H. Depoortere
• Published 1 December 1998
• Medicine, Psychology
• CNS drug reviews

Each of us spends approximately one third of our life sleeping. Thanks to technological advances in methods of evaluating the electrical activity of the brain during sleep and wakefulness (polysomnography) we now know a great deal about the physiology of sleep in humans and lower animals. We know less about the functions of sleep, however, although there has never been any shortage of theory and speculation on this topic. The biological significance of sleep is emphasized by the important effects of sleep disturbances. Sleep disorders are classified by the DSM IV into dyssomnias and parasomnias; the major clinical problem in this area is probably primary insomnia. Insomnia is not itself a disease and may or may not be considered a symptom of another physical or psychiatric disorder. It is best characterized as a complaint of difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep or of sleep which is not satisfying or restorative. It is essentially a subjective problem, therefore, although polysomnographic and other objective methods may have important roles to play in evaluating the significance of the problem and the effectiveness of treatments. Assessments of the prevalence of insomnia vary, but all recent surveys indicate that it is a common problem. Ohayon (55), using a telephone interviewing technique of a representative sample of the French population, reported that 18.6% of the sample complained of insomnia. This figure is, in fact, slightly lower than those obtained in other populations (some surveys have reported that up to 40% of the population may suffer from insomnia in a given year) (14,29,39,49). Marked differences between different countries have also been reported (90). Complaints of insomnia increase with age and are more common in women than in men (61,88). Using a figure for the prevalence rate of insomnia in the population of the United States of 32 to 33%, Stoller calculated that the economic costs associated with this disorder could be approximately $100 billion (83). Although such calculations are necessarily estimates and subject to controversy, it has also been proposed that the annual cost of accidents alone in the USA associated with insomnia may be about $50 billion (45,96).