Drug‐use pattern of Chinese herbal medicines in insomnia: a 4‐year survey in Taiwan

Background and Objective:  Insomnia is a common complaint in the general population. Interest in the use of alternative treatments for insomnia is increasing exponentially and is fairly common in Taiwan. We undertook a survey to define the drug utilization patterns of Chinese herbal medicines (CM) for insomnia in Taiwan.

[1]  B. Bauer.  Herbal therapy: what a clinician needs to know to counsel patients effectively. , 2000, Mayo Clinic proceedings.

[2]  Y. Wing,et al.  Herbal treatment of insomnia. , 2001, Hong Kong medical journal = Xianggang yi xue za zhi.

[3]  J P Kassirer,et al.  Alternative medicine--the risks of untested and unregulated remedies. , 1998, The New England journal of medicine.

[4]  O. Lindahl,et al.  Double blind study of a Valerian preparation , 1989, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.

[5]  C. Morin,et al.  Epidemiology of insomnia: prevalence, self-help treatments, consultations, and determinants of help-seeking behaviors. , 2006, Sleep medicine.

[6]  W. Hening,et al.  Beyond Benzodiazepines: Alternative Pharmacologic Agents for the Treatment of Insomnia , 1998, The Annals of pharmacotherapy.

[7]  K. Yen,et al.  A pilot study comparing the clinical effects of Jia-Wey Shiau-Yau San, a traditional Chinese herbal prescription, and a continuous combined hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women with climacteric symptoms. , 2003, Maturitas.

[8]  R. Phillips,et al.  Alternative Medicine Use in Older Americans , 2000, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[9]  D. Neubauer.  Pharmacologic approaches for the treatment of chronic insomnia. , 2003, Clinical cornerstone.

[10]  R. Nahin,et al.  Insomnia, trouble sleeping, and complementary and alternative medicine: Analysis of the 2002 national health interview survey data. , 2006, Archives of internal medicine.

[11]  I. Fietze,et al.  Critical evaluation of the effect of valerian extract on sleep structure and sleep quality. , 2000, Pharmacopsychiatry.