The History of Hypnotics

Hypnotics are psychoactive drugs used to induce sleep. Alcohol, opium and Valerian root have been used as hypnotics for centuries. Barbiturates and benzodiazepines are two of the more commonly prescribed types of hypnotics. In milder doses, many hypnotics can also be used as sedatives.

Origins

• The first sleep aids came from plants such as the opium poppy and Valerian. Opium is thought to have been used by the Sumerians as early as 4000 BC. Valerian root's properties were described in the works of Hippocrates in the fifth century B.C. and it is known to have been prescribed by the second century physician Galen of Pergamon.

History

• Barbiturates were developed in the early 1900s by Emil Hermann Fischer and Joseph von Mering from barbituric acid, a chemical first first discovered by Adolf von Baeyer in the 1860s. They remained the dominant hypnotics until the benzodiazepine class of drugs was discovered by Leo Sternbach in the late 1950s and marketed by the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche in the early 1960s.

Development

• The most recently discovered class of hypnotics are the non-benzodiazepine drugs which were introduced in the 1980s with the development of the so-called "Z-drugs" such as Zoplicone, Zoplidem, Zaleplon and Ezopiclone.The non-benzodiazepine drugs have similar properties to the benzodiazepines, but different chemical make-ups. They are considered relatively safer than benzodiazepines because they are less likely to cause addiction or fatal overdose. However, they have been known to cause amnesia, hallucinations, sleepwalking problems and an increased risk of depression.