SEDATIVE-HYPNOTICS

INTRODUCTION:  Sedation is a condition of drowsiness due to reduced central nervous system response to various environmental stimuli and manufests as reduced mental alertness.  

Hypnosis means initiation and maintanance of sleep situation.  Therefore a sedative-hypnotic is a drug that calms you down and leads to initiation and maintainance of sleep.  An effective  sedative  (anxiolytic) agent should reduce anxiety and exert a calming effect. The degree of central nervous system depression caused by a sedative should be the minimum consistent with therapeutic efficacy.  A  hypnotic  drug should produce drowsiness and encourage the onset and maintenance of a state of sleep. Hypnotic effects involve more pronounced depression of the central nervous system than sedation, and this can be achieved with many drugs in this class simply by increasing the dose. Graded dose-dependent depression of central nervous system function is a characteristic of most sedative-hypnotics.

RELATED;

1.  ZOLPIDEM  

2.  DEPRESSION  

3.  MANAGEMENT OF SLEEP DISORDERS

4.  BENZODIAZEPINES

5.  PHARMACOLOGY AND THERAPEUTICS

REFERENCES