Biomedical subjects

PK Schweitzer

Publications and source records attributed to PK Schweitzer.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

A five week, polysomnographic assessment of zaleplon 10 mg for the treatment of primary insomnia.

Objective: To examine the hypnotic efficacy of zaleplon 10 mg, a selective benzodiazepine receptor agonist, over a period of 35 nights in primary insomniacs.Methods: A double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled design was employed. Subjects were 113 men and women, ages 18 to 65 years. Polysomnographic and subjective sleep data were collected during baseline, on two nights during each of five treatment weeks, and on the first two nights after discontinuation of active medication.Results: Sleep latency was significantly shortened with zaleplon 10 mg for all 5 weeks of treatment as assessed by polysomnography and by subjective sleep measures. Total sleep time, whether evaluated with polysomnography or with subjective estimates, was inconsistently affected. Sleep architecture was similar with zaleplon and placebo. There was no evidence of tolerance to the sleep promoting effects of zaleplon during the five weeks of administration, and there was no rebound insomnia upon discontinuation. Adverse events occurred with equal frequency in the zaleplon and placebo groups.Conclusions: Zaleplon 10 mg is effective in the treatment of sleep onset insomnia over a period of 35 nights, with minimal evidence of undesired effects.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1995

Hypnotics and caffeine as countermeasures for shiftwork-related sleepiness and sleep disturbance.

Hypnotic medication reliably improves sleep during the day, in terms of increasing total sleep time (TST) and reducing awakenings and light sleep. Middle-aged individuals may benefit more than young adults. In addition, the time of day during which sleep is attempted may influence the efficacious dose of short-acting drugs. Available data suggest that improving sleep during the day may improve alertness/performance at night to a mild degree, but significant circadian-related sleepiness remains. Hypnotic medication may help minimize the cumulative effects of sleep loss associated with daytime sleep. Use for more than one week has not been adequately studied; however, as most night and rotating workers' schedules allow for night-time sleep for two or more nights per week, available evidence indicates that hypnotics can be used effectively on an intermittent basis, e.g. for the first 2-4 day-sleep periods of night shifts. Caffeine has been shown to increase alertness and improve psychomotor performance during usual night-shift hours when taken between 22.30 and 01.20 hours. Available data indicate that at approximate dosages of 250-400 mg, the beneficial effects persist until at least 05.30 hours. For most subjects, caffeine taken at the start of the night-shift does not interfere significantly with daytime sleep beginning at 09.00 hours. There is also some evidence that single doses of caffeine at the beginning of a night shift may be more alerting than divided doses. If caffeine is to be used therapeutically, avoidance of social use may be required to avoid tolerance to CNS stimulant effects. Despite the positive results of laboratory research examining hypnotics or caffeine as shiftwork countermeasures, field trials have not been conducted.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1994

Slow-wave sleep deprivation and waking function.

Slow-wave sleep (SWS) has been theorized to be an intense form of nonREM sleep, but selective deprivation of SWS or Stage 4 sleep has not been shown to cause greater decrements in alertness or performance, compared to deprivation or disruption of the other stages of sleep. The present experiment examined the effects of marked SWS deprivation (SD) for two nights, a control sleep disruption (CD) condition in which minutes of SWS were preserved, and a no sleep disruption (ND) condition. Daytime sleepiness was assessed with the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) and performance was evaluated with the simulated assembly line task (SALT), neither of which was used in previous studies of SWS or Stage 4 sleep deprivation. In agreement with prior studies, two nights of SD did not cause greater daytime sleepiness than did CD, although sleepiness in both conditions was increased compared to the ND condition. In addition, neither SD nor CD caused declines in performance or mood. However, post hoc analysis suggests an interaction between SWS and sleep duration, such that sufficient SWS may tend to prevent adverse effects of mild sleep loss on waking function.

Journal Article↗