It seems that humanity has constantly searched for a cure to all their ills in chemical form. If you happened to be a woman back in the 1870 and had cramps why don’t you take yourself some opium to get rid of that pain. Back in the late 60’s / early 70’s if you were having problems in your relationship, and in some cases depression, you may have been given ecstasy (yes, you read that correctly). Can’t sleep these days… easy, take Lunesta or Ambien.
Please note – I am not comparing modern day sleep meds and their effects to opium. Just going to show how doctors have treated problems chemically over time. I also have no issue with medical professionals using medication to treat issues. In doing so they must weight the risk of the long term effects but, hey, if it works for you – great. Sometimes people simply need to do what works for them.
News came out today that a new drug appears to have the ability to mimics the effect of melatonin, and can reset the body’s circadian rhythms in as little as one application. Tasimelteon, the new medication, also allegedly has no potential for addiction or abuse.
If such a medication was available, individuals with sleeping disorders (or suffering from Jet Lag) may be able to find relief from their insomnia. Mind you, not cure, simply aide.
While this sounds all well and good, pharmalot.com points out the following:
The study, which was designed and funded by Vanda Pharmaceuticals, which developed the drug, involved a rather small group of patients and researchers were unable to measure performance and mood after the drug was used. All of the researchers, the Times notes, reported receiving funds from Vanda or other drugmakers.
Not only that, a Pharmalot.com commenter points out:
This story seems incomplete without mentioning that tasimelteon is nothing more than a “me too” version of the commercially available ramelteon. At the very least it would be appropriate to have a clarifying statement that this compound is not even close to a novel drug, and perhaps that ramelteon, as well as the dietary supplement melatonin have similar caliber data for helping with jet lag.
Hmmm… makes one wonder if the press may be jumping the gun a bit here. It sounds like Vanda may, potentially, have a marketable product that is years away from actually being applied in practice and is trying to create a bit of press for themselves.
So, in the mean time, I will keep hoping for that magic pill that cures all but still live with the reality that I may simply always suffer from sleep issues.
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