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Ed Yeates ReportingAre the very drugs designed to help us sleep better at night causing people to "zombie" drive behind the wheel? At least one of the country's most popular prescribed medications is under fire now because of some possible peculiar side effects.
Sleepy drivers, it's a problem even without drugs, but one of the new generation sleeping aids called Ambien is under scrutiny. The newly designed medication, one of several on the market, brings on sleep when taken just before bedtime. But the big concern now is that side-effects from the drug could include possible wandering at night or sleep walking behind the wheel.
While both the University of Utah and LDS Hospital Sleep Centers have had no cases of so-called "zombie" driving because of the drug, physicians have seen sleepwalking.
Christopher Jones, M.D. PhD, University of Utah Sleep-Wake Center: "The causal relationship, for example, between Ambien in particular and sleep walking, seems to be much more than we can explain by coincidence."
Robert Farney, M.D., LDS Hospital Sleep Center: "Getting up during the middle of the night and not having any recollection of doing something. You may go dumpster diving and not recall doing that."
Sleep walk eating may be another problem.
Christopher Jones, M.D. PhD: "Typically, these are foods a sleep eater would not usually consume, like a stick of butter or a glass of maple of syrup."
These incidents are still in the minority. For most of those who really need it, Ambien and its cousins are treating sleep deprivation.
Lack of sleep is still the major cause of driving drowsiness, the topic at this afternoon's grand rounds at LDS Hospital.
Robert Farney, M.D.: "The most common reason is partial sleep deprivation, shift work, and sleep disorders that are unrecognized."
Dr. Christopher Jones says while new sleeping medications are a major improvement over the old ones, they are still not without risk.
A spokesperson for the maker of Ambien says the reported side effects are under evaluation. Many of the cases may involve misuse of the drug, consumers not following labeled instructions.
