Researchers note efficacy of these remedies could offer patients an alternative choice to medications
Chronic sleep deprivation affects one in three Americans and another 10 to 15% of the population has chronic insomnia.
Sleep disorders can greatly affect a person’s quality of life and have been associated to many diseases including depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, obesity, accelerated aging and depression.
Over-the-counter herbal remedies are often used to treat insomnia, but surprisingly, very little research has been done to test their effectiveness according to an article in Alternative and Complimentary Therapies, titled’; A Review of the Efficacy of Herbal Remedies for Managing Insomnia, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
The aim of the article was to review identified literature of the effectiveness of commonly used herbal medicines for insomnia.
People need many hours of sound, restorative sleep very night to maintain an optimal state of physiological and psychological health, but many factors can disrupt sleep schedules and compromise the quality of sleep.
Researchers conducted a search on the internet and electronic databases.
The literature found and reviewed by the researchers on herbal remedies commonly used to treat insomnia had included valerian, hops, kava-kava, chamomile and St. Johns wort.
Researchers had found that few scientific studies had been published that reported on the therapeutic potential and safety of these herbal remedies and the results were either inconclusive or contradictory.
The authors had concluded “Considering the rise in the use of CAM in general, it would seem appropriate that such preparations were assessed scientifically for their therapeutic potential and safety, especially considering the benefits that a natural-management strategy could offer patients with insomnia as an alternative to pharmacological interventions.”
