Zopiclone versus triazolam in insomniac geriatric patients: a specific increase in delta sleep with zopiclone.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide).

This in-patient period was bounded by two ambulatory periods of 5 days each, and two in-patient periods of 3 days each, during which the patients received a placebo tablet at bed time.

Thirteen sleep recordings per patient were performed before (3 nights), upon initiation of active treatment (3 nights), at the end of the active treatment period (3 nights) and during the following 3 "withdrawal" nights.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 10 patients taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

The patients were allocated by chance, so the DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some patients received a placebo instead of DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide), giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Arousal, Azabicyclo Compounds, Delta Rhythm, Electroencephalography, Hypnotics and Sedatives, Piperazines and Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide) in 10 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1990 (International clinical psychopharmacology), a journal based in England.

More context: the DSIP (delta sleep-inducing peptide) compound page, all human trials.