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Your Guide to Sleep Disorders.
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The elderly often suffer from insomnia brought on my numerous psychological and medical problems. They sometimes find it difficult to fall asleep and, once they do, tend to awaken often.

Research done at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina may provide an answer. The study showed a drug called eszopiclone reduced the time it took elderly patients to fall asleep and the number of awakenings. The patients were monitored in the hopsital's sleep lab.

The study involved 264 patients between the ages of 65 and 85. A random selection took eszopiclone and others a placebo. Patients who were given the new drug improved in all areas of insomnia. They fell asleep faster, slept longer and suffered fewer awakenings.

W. Vaughn McCall, M.D. of Wake Forest School of Medicine stated: "The elderly are more easily awakened by noise, pain or light and tend to have difficulty sleeping for extended periods of time and achieving deep, restful sleep states.." He went on to explain that, as a result, elderly adults get less sleep than they need and this disrupts daytime wakefulness and diminishes quality of life. Patients using eszopiclone reported less daytime sleepiness and an improved quality of life.

"Since improving patients' quality of life is the goal of treatment," Dr. McCall said, "this is an interesting finding that merits further study."

Ezopiclone is made by the drug company Sepacor and this study was funded by them.