Tossing and turning, countless sleep remedies that never seem to work, watching the clock pass hour by hour... is insomnia turning into a nightly routine? You're not alone. Recent research shows that 10-15% of Americans chronically struggle with falling and staying asleep.
Many people turn to sleep aids for relief, but these drugs have the risk of addiction, sleepwalking, sleep eating and immediate impairment of memory.
Americans spend around $14 billion annually on sleep aids; the two most common are Ambien and Lunesta. However, these inhibitors have given doctors new reasons to create a safer drug that causes no side effects.
Enter DORA-22, a sleeping aid still in the infancy stages of research that focuses more on orexin, a neurotransmitter that regulates wakefulness, appetite and arousal. DORA-22 differs from the drugs used in Ambien and Lunesta that concentrate on GABA, the neurotransmitter that involves mood, cognition and muscle tone.
Even though DORA-22 hasn't been tested on humans yet, scientists have conducted research on animals and have strong belief that this could be the answer to your sleepless nights.
Dr. Shelby Harris, director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at the Sleep-Wake Disorders center and an assistant professor of neurology and psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine discusses the new sleeping pill that promises no side effects.
New Sleeping Pill Promises No Side Effects
Insomnia turning into a nightly routine? Scientists believe that a new drug, DORA-22, could be the answer to your sleepless nights.
Additional Info
- Segment Number: 2
- Audio File: staying_well/1327sw1b.mp3
- Featured Speaker: Shelby Freedman Harris, PsyD
- Guest Website: Dr. Shelby Harris
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Guest Bio:
Shelby Freedman Harris, Psy.D., C.BSM is Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Neurology as well as Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is board certified in Behavioral Sleep Medicine by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
A graduate of Brown University, Dr. Harris received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University. Dr. Harris completed her predoctoral internship at Montefiore Medical Center where she trained in the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center, and has received advanced postdoctoral training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for anxiety and depressive disorders.
As a licensed psychologist, Dr. Harris specializes in behavioral sleep medicine and CBT for anxiety and depression. She has published and presented research on the neuropsychological effects of insomnia in older adults as well as behavioral treatments for insomnia, parasomnias, narcolepsy and excessive daytime sleepiness. Dr. Harris currently supervises students from the Montefiore Psychology Internship, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology Cognitive Behavior Therapy Program and the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center Fellowship. - Length (mins): 10
- Waiver Received: Yes
- Host: Melanie Cole, MS
Published in
Staying Well
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