Sleeping pills can increase the risk of heart attacks by up to 50 percent, suggests US study.
Heart Attack - Overview
Heart attack is the death of the heart muscle due to loss of blood supply. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Other names for heart attack include acute myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, and coronary occlusion.
Heart attack is the death of the heart muscle due to loss of blood supply. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Other names for heart attack include acute myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, and coronary occlusion.
People taking the equivalent of 60 tablets a year could see the threat jump by half.
The study - presented to the world's biggest cardiology conference - is the first to connect the drug with cardiovascular problems.
Scientists cannot be fully certain yet that sleeping pills are causing heart problems - and the manufacturers say there are no known adverse cardiac reactions to zolpidem.
However, the researchers say the results from a study of more than 5,000 people are sufficiently worrying for "further large-scale and in-depth investigations".
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