Paper
Sedative and hypnotic herbs and their use in improving sleep
Published 1998 · R. Mcvey
Australian Journal of Medical Herbalism
1
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Abstract
Sedatives are agents that reduce anxiety and exert a calming effect with little or no effect on motor or mental functions. Hypnotics are drugs that produce drowsiness and encourage the onset and maintenance of a state of sleep that as far as possible resembles the natural state of sleep. Hypnotics involve more pronounced depression of the central nervous system than sedatives. By increasing the dose, most sedatives can act as hypnotics. Animal studies have been able to confirm the action of well known herbal sedatives and hypnotics such as Humulus lupulus, Melissa officinalis, Piper methysticum, Salvia guaranitica, Passiflora spp, Matricaria recutita, Anthemis nobilis and Valeriana spp. Studies using individual constituents versus whole plant extracts did not always yield the same results; in some cases the individual constituents were able to induce sleep and increase sleeping times of animals treated or not treated with hexobarbital and pentobarbital while others were not. Thus it has been difficult to isolate the constituent/s responsible for the sedative and hypnotic activity seen in these herbs. (author abstract)
Herbal sedatives and hypnotics, such as Humulus lupulus, Melissa officinalis, Piper methysticum, and Valeriana spp., can improve sleep quality and reduce anxiety, but their exact role in promoting sleep remains unclear.
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