Wellness Wednesday

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With today's busy and chaotic world, many people have resorted to prescription sleeping pills to counter the resulting insomnia.  Popular prescription sleep aids include the brand names Restoril, Ambien, and Lunestra.  However, a recent study has linked a variety of these drugs to a higher risk of dying and to a higher incidence of cancer.  Patients using these drugs appeared to be at a 4.6 times higher risk of death than non-users.  Cancer risk increased 35% with use of these drugs.  Read more about the study in this Huffington Post article.  

Rather than resort to these potentially dangerous drugs, the article gives suggestions for making sleep come easy.  As there is no one cause for insomnia, there is no one cure, so it may be necessary to try a number of the tips before finding the solution that is right for you.  In addition, there are a number of herbs that can help induce a more natural sleep.  Some of these herbs include chamomile, valerian, lemon balm, passion flower, and kava kava   Of course, I am not a medical doctor and you may want to consult with your physician before discontinuing your medication or trying any of these herbs.