New Drug Promises Better Sleep for the Jet-Lagged

Substance works a lot like today's popular but unregulated melatonin supplements

By Rebecca Smith Hurd, Newser User

Posted Dec 7, 2008 2:32 PM CST

(Newser) – A new drug promises to put an end to jet lag and enable better sleep for travelers, swing-shift crews, and insomniacs, the Economist reports. Tasimelteon works a lot like today's popular but unregulated melatonin supplements, bonding with brain receptors to stimulate melatonin production and REM sleep. The distinction is significant because the drug is not acting as a mere sedative.

“We want to treat the underlying cause of jet lag or shift-work disorder: the misalignment of the inner circadian clock with the external environmental time,” says the drug’s lead researcher. More than 400 people successfully shifted their sleep patterns by 5 hours in two clinical trials. If further tests prove effective, an even simpler remedy for sleeplessness—such as wearing orange-tinted sunglasses at night—may be forthcoming.

Nelly Su, of Miami, rests in the arms of her sleeping boyfriend Mike Thomas, as Satish Venkat, rear, also tries to nap before their flights out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)

An unidentified man sleeps on the ground as he waits to depart from Antonio Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro. (AP Photo/Ricardo Moraes)

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New Drug Promises Better Sleep for the Jet-Lagged

Substance works a lot like today's popular but unregulated melatonin supplements

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Study: A tenth of men with sleep disorders have sex while asleep

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New Drug Promises Better Sleep for the Jet-Lagged

Substance works a lot like today's popular but unregulated melatonin supplements

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

medicine • Harvard Medical School • jet lag • insomnia • drug trials • sleep disorder • melatonin • Tasimelteon

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Tired? Could Be Your 'Sexsomnia'

Study: A tenth of men with sleep disorders have sex while asleep

Insomnia Linked to Shrinking Brains

Decision-making part of the brain less dense in chronic insomniacs

Combo Heart Pills Enter Trials in London

The cheap drugs could halve deaths from heart attack, stroke

New Cancer Ideas Compete for $1 Million

A Harvard doctor and two hedge fund managers set up contest for cancer cure

New Breast Scan Beats Mammogram

Uses near-infrared rays to illuminate tumors and sort benign from malignant

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?