A comparison of the effects of chlormezanone and nitrazepam on sleep.

Abstract

1 Twelve volunteers, of mean age 60 years, took part in a double-blind, balanced cross-over study, to compare effects of chlormezanone 400 mg and nitrazepam 5 mg on electrophysiologically-recorded and subjectively-rated sleep. 2 In the first week of administration nitrazepam caused a significant shortening of the time to fall asleep, but following withdrawal subjects took longer to fall asleep than during the baseline period. 3 Both chlormezanone and nitrazepam initially caused increase of sleep duration and less interruption of sleep by wakefulness. By the third week, for chlormezanone this effect was no longer significant, and for nitrazepam there was a significant decline in the effect. There was no statistically significant difference between the two drugs for these measures. 4 The drugs differed little in their effects on the amount of the various sleep stages, except that nitrazepam significantly reduced the duration of slow wave sleep, whereas chlormezanone had no significant effect on slow wave sleep. Both drugs reduced the amount of REM sleep in the first 6 h of sleep but only nitrazepam reduced the percentage of the time spent in REM sleep of the whole night. 5 Subjects' own ratings of sleep quality showed that both of the drugs improved sleep, but following withdrawal it was only after nitrazepam that there was impairment of the quality of sleep. Neither drug affected subjective alertness in the morning. IntroductionMethods

The hypnotic effects of an antihistamine: promethazine.

“…The increase of sleep duration and the reduction in the brokenness of sleep caused by promethazine parallel what is found in middle-aged poor sleepers after, for example, nitrazepam 5 mg or chlormezanone 400 mg (Adam & Oswald, 1982), lormetazepam 1 mg , loprazolam 1 mg or triazolam 0.5 mg , and it is of interest that since 1985 promethazine has been marketed in the United Kingdom as a non-prescription hypnotic. The Significance refers to within-subject comparisons and placebo-20 mg or placebo-40 mg differences present study was, however, limited to the effects of single dosages only, whereas in the other studies cited, assessment was made of any tolerance during 3 weeks of regular intake and of any later withdrawal effects.…”

Effect of oral γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) administration on sleep and its absorption in humans

“…It has been reported that over 20% of adults in Japan suffers from insomnia (8), and sleep is a serious social issue in Japan and other countries. Psychological disorders can greatly affect sleep quality and are regarded as a cause of insomnia (9,10). Because GABA can effectively relieve stress and anxiety, it is conceivable that GABA could improve sleep quality.…”

The Improvement of Sleep by Oral Intake of GABA and <i>Apocynum venetum</i> Leaf Extract

“…In general, antianxiety drugs are also effective for the improvement of sleep because psychological disorders such as stress, depression and anxiety are deeply involved in sleep quality (9,10). GABA is known to have effects of anti-stress and relaxation (3)(4)(5)(6), and AVLE is also effective for relieving depression (7) and anxiety (8).…”

“…2), shows antidepressant effects (7) and antianxiety and antihypertensive activities (8). Since both GABA and AVLE have effects on psychological disorders, which are deeply involved in sleep quality (9,10), the improvement of sleep can be expected from ingestion of them. In fact, GABA has been reported to help elderly people to sleep well (11), and AVLE has been recorded in 'Pharmacopoeia of People's Republic of China' and used as an herbal medicine to treat insomnia in China (12).…”