Plants used as phytomedicines in sleep disorders.

Abstract

The anxiety and the different levels of sleep disorders affect a large proportion of human population, consisting of a relevant demand for phytotherapic medicines. Among them, there available evidences for the use of extracts of chamomile, valerian, passiflora, kava, and melissa. Some of them acts as hypnotics and sedatives, and in some others, a significant reduction of sleep latency is observed, but all of them contribute, in some way, to the improvement of sleep quality. There still are some prospecting evaluations at pre-clinic phase with the hops extract that suggest a capacity of extending pentobartial-induced sleep without affecting sleep latency, and of acting as an anti-depressive agent. The fruits of Heteropterys glabra had also being investigated on their sedative and anxiolytic properties, searching for evidences that support their traditional use. There are consistent clinical evidences for some herbal associations, such as chamomile and passiflora, valerian and melissa, valerian and hops, and angelica and chamomile. This search for phytotherapetic resources for sleep disorders is based on the needs of bypassing the strong collateral effects of the usual pharmacotherapy, mainly the residual sleep effect. Because of this, non-pharmacologial trials must be done before the election of the classical pharmacotherapy.