From today's Daily Mail

A good summary of something I have been following. Can you manage to fast if you know that tomorrow you can wander down to your local trough and eat as much as you can stand? It seems to be the case proving that there is a god and that She is merciful and kind.

And from the same source
Sleeping pills used by millions of Britons may increase the risk of early death more than five-fold, warn researchers.

The higher the dose, the greater the risk. Those on higher doses also have an increased risk of cancer.

But a study suggests even patients taking fewer than 18 pills a year are more likely to die prematurely than those not on medication.

The findings come from U.S. research, but most of the drugs involved are commonly prescribed in Britain.

They include benzodiazepines such as temazepam and diazepam, newer sedative hypnotics zolpidem, zopiclone and zaleplon, and barbiturates and sedative antihistamines.

British experts said worried patients should not stop taking the pills but talk to their GPs first.

The study found those prescribed sleeping pills were 4.6 times more likely to die during a two-and-a-half-year period compared with those not on the drugs.

Those taking the lowest doses – four to 18 pills a year – had a 3.6 times higher risk of dying compared with non-users.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#ixzz1nlrNNEG9

This one is more complex than it looks. Do sleeping pills kill you? Or do more people who are dying have insomnia? Or is it that those whose first reaction to a problem is to "Take a pill!" as comedian Mark Blankfield's drug-maddened pharmacist character would say are making a big mistake? Darn, I wish that sketch was as funny as it once was.....