As well as the traditional sedative/hypnotic group of drugs that relieve anxiety by day and promote sleep at night there are several other groups of drugs that are used to treat insomnia-particularly antidepressant, antipsychotic, and antihistamine drugs. As they differ substantially in their pharmacological and clinical effects on withdrawal I will consider them separately. The seven sleepers ...

Background: Coriandrum sativum L. has been recommended for relief of insomnia in Iranian traditional medicine. However, no pharmacological studies have yet evaluated its sedative effects. The aim of this study was to determine if extracts and essential oil of coriander seeds have sedative-hypnotic activity. Methods: The aqueous or hydro-alcoholic extracts or essential oil of coriander seeds (10...

The term 'barbiturate' refers to drugs which are derivatives of barbituric acid (malonylurea). Barbituric acid itself has no significant psychotropic properties, but its derivatives may have a variety of effects on the central nervous system. Certain of those compounds with significant depressant or sedative-hypnotic properties are of primary importance in medical and nonmedical use. Many of th...

Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, and is often associated with significant medical, psychological, and social disturbances. Conventional medical treatment for insomnia includes psychological and pharmacological approaches; however, long-term use of frequently prescribed medications can lead to habituation and problematic withdrawal symptoms. Therefore, herbal and other natural sleep a...

Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome, also known as drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome (DIHS), is a rare, acute and severe life-threatening systemic disease. DRESS syndrome is characterized by fever, lymphadenopathy, rash, hypereosinophilia and involvement of systemic organs. The most commonly implicated drugs are anticonvulsants, sulfonamides and allopurinol. ...

Asperugo procumbents L. has been used in Iranian traditional medicine for the refreshing, tranquillizing and mood elevating activities. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antidepressant and sedative-hypnotic potential of acute administration of the hydroalcoholic extract of this plant in mice. Additionally, the effects of flumazenil on the hypnotic activity of the extracts were ev...

Although agarwood has been used as a tranquilizer in Asian countries for hundreds of years, the underlying pharmacological basis is still unclear. This study investigated the sedative-hypnotic effect of agarwood essential oil (AEO) using locomotor activity and pentobarbital-induced sleeping assays in mice. Single (1-day) and multiple (7- and 14-days) administrations of 60 mg/kg AEO generated si...