One in Five Americans Need Pills to Sleep

We are an increasingly medicated population. Some of us rightly so, while others… not so much.

Consumer Reports just published a survey that says one in five Americans uses medicine at least once a week to help them go to sleep. The findings are based on a survey of 1,466 adults in the U.S. by the Consumer Reports National Research Center in April 2008. Previous studies have shown that proper amounts of sleep (7-8 hours) can actually help you lose weight, with appetite-regulating hormones in the body being at proper levels with the well rested.

I’m obviously not a statistician, but in my amateur opinion, this seems like flimsy evidence, only because the sample size is so small. One in five? Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, since we live such stressful non-stop lives.

August 9th, 2008

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Posted in: consumer reports, Health News, sleep

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by Jason — Staff Writer

Jason's career as a health journalist and researcher helps readers understand what they really need to know and use. This music buff loves a good record store and plays a mean bass.