Insomnia: clinical experience with Zolpidem (Sanval)

Abstract

The paper describes the present view of the problem of insomnia and gives a classification of sleep disorders and basic methods for their drug and non-drug therapy. Emphasis is placed on the role of the objective sleep study - polysomnography. The use of the current hypnotics belonging to a three Zs group and the minimization of administration of benzodiazepines are most important in pharmacotherapy for insomnia. The results of a clinical polysomnographic study of the effect of Zolpidem (Sanval) in patients with insomnia are presented. The subjective evaluation of the beneficial effect of a 10-day course of Sanval is confirmed by the objective studies of the sleep pattern undergoing positive changes in the most important indicators, such as the process of falling asleep, the time of intrasleep awakenings, and the duration of Δ-sleep. The high safety and good tolerability of Sanval permit the latter to be assessed as an effective agent for the treatment of insomnia.