ZOPICLONE IN ELDERLY PATIENTS - EFFICACY AND SAFETY

Zopiclone is an hypnotic medication belonging to the cyclopyrrolone fa mily of drugs. It is chemically unrelated to the benzodiazepines and b inds to a specific site of the GABA(A) receptor complex. Zopiclone has been found to be effective as an hypnotic for the elderly: single dos es of 7.5 mg have been found to decrease sleep onset latency and the n umber of nocturnal awakenings: to improve sleep duration and sleep qua lity, and to cause minimal impairment of psychomotor performance and m ental alertness the morning after a normal bed-time dose. Importantly, the drug has been shown to have little or no effect on short-term mem ory, a function that is often impaired by earlier hypnotic drugs parti cularly in elderly patients. Furthermore, there is little evidence of dependency or rebound insomnia on withdrawal of the medication after c ontinued use. The drug is well tolerated by patients of all ages, and adverse effects are infrequently reported, the majority of side-effect s being taste disturbance (3.6 per cent in the largest trial to date) and dry mouth (1.6 per cent). Zopiclone is now a well-established alte rnative to the benzodiazepine hypnotics.