"Han" wrote in message

stuff snipped

Don't knock mustard gas. It started chemotherapy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...r_chemotherapy

Antidepressants first started out as a cure for TB. They didn't cure TB but
researchers began to notice that the patients didn't seem to care about
their TB as much after they had taken the drug for a few weeks. And so one
of the most widely prescribed classes of drugs in the world was born. I
just read an item about a study implying that taking a sleep aid like
Lunesta can seriously affect your lifespan.

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2012/...o-early-death/

Researchers analyzing the electronic health records of more than 30,000
patients have found that those taking popular sleeping pills such as
temazepam (Restoril), zolpidem (Ambien), eszopiclone (Lunesta) and zaleplon
(Sonata) were significantly more likely to die during the two and a half
years of follow-up.
The records of 10,529 patients who got sleeping pill prescriptions between
2002 and 2007 were matched to those of 23,676 people who got no sleeping
pills. The matches took into account gender, age (average was 54 years old),
obesity, smoking, health problems diagnosed other than insomnia, ethnicity,
alcohol use and marital status. The results were shocking: those taking
sleeping pills were about four times (3.6 to 5.6) more likely to die during
the follow-up.

Maybe it will turn out that insomnia increases longevity.

--

Bobby G.