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| |  Most MDs Overprescribe Sleep Medications, Says Expert NEW YORK, NY. -- October 7, 1997 -- Most doctors generally overprescribe medication to promote sleep -- a practice which may mask the real cause of the patient’s sleeplessness, says a Cornell Medical College physician. George S. Alexopoulos, M.D., said in the current issue of New Choices: Living Even Better After 50, if doctors properly prescribed medications to promote sleep, most would be able to count on one hand the number of their patients taking these pills at any one time. "If I see a patient complaining of sleep problems, the first thing I want to do is investigate why he or she is having trouble sleeping. The last thing I want to do is prescribe a drug to induce sleep." Sleeping pills can cause a host of side effects including confusion, heart problems and decreased sexual appetite, the article reports. They can also mask medical symptoms responsible for insomnia in the first place. "It's critical that doctors take the time to evaluate the underlying reasons for insomnia in people who complain of trouble sleeping," said Gary S. Moak, M.D., of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Moak and others warn if doctors use drugs at all they should prescribe them only after determining the cause of the insomnia and should reserve them only for those losing sleep because of a temporary problem, such as stress following the death of someone close. Rather than popping a pill after several sleepness nights, people should have a complete physical examination to detect the underlying cause of the sleeplessness. "In virtually all older people with insomnia, something treatable is causing the sleeplessness," Alexopoulos explained.
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