LETTUCE: NATURE'S NARCOTIC

IT IS regrettable that many doctors remain ambivalent about
prescribing sleeping pills. They worry that such pills are over-
prescribed - as were mild tranquillisers, such as Valium, in the
Seventies - and fear encouraging "dependency" in their patients.

But the treatment of chronic insomnia should be seen in the same way
as that of depression. Both are presumably related to some abnormality
of brain chemistry and, just as Prozac is an effective
anti-depressant, so sleeping pills may be the only treatment for
insomnia, by correcting whatever chemical defect might be
responsible.

A reader from Norfolk would like to know if there might be other
remedies: "Three hours' oblivion out of 24 is soul-destroying," she
writes, "so help of any kind would be a bonus."

First come remedies concerned with mitigating physical conditions that
can prevent sleep. Margo Jones of West Sussex recommends a cold
hot-water bottle: "Tucked away down the side of the bed, it soothes
hot and aching feet, eases cramps and affords some relief to whatever
arthritic pain might strike."

Most readers will know of other remedies for sleep-disturbing muscle
afflictions, such as cramps and restless legs. Sandra Bigley describes
the value of corks for cramps, whose efficacy she has tested on her
skeptical husband, "who is prone to leaping from bed in the early
hours of the morning".

She started by putting a few under the mattress - which achieved
partial success. So she "doubled the dose" - and "there have been no
more cramps".

Priscilla Martin of the Irish Republic reports that her spouse
benefited from another simple remedy: "He was told by a
physiotherapist friend to try wearing bedsocks." Interestingly, she
points out that her husband had always wondered why he never suffered
cramps on holiday - until he realised that, away from home, "he always
wore bedsocks because he is allergic to sheets washed in detergent".

As for insomnia itself, the most commonly mentioned remedy is lettuce.
In a learned article in the British Medical Journal, Dr Tony Carter,
consultant anaesthetist at North Staffordshire Hospital, points out
that, in France, the wild lettuce, Lactuca virosa, is a commonly used
sedative and, combined with other herbal compounds, induces
anaesthesia. The juice of the lettuce, it would seem, contains
morphine-like chemicals which, like all opiates, can offer a temporary
escape.

Harold Smith of Wiltshire recalls that the memoirs of an American
country doctor working among poor hillbilly families during the
Depression include an incident in which the doctor, calling on a
family in the middle of the day, found them all sleeping. "He learnt
from a neighbour that poor people ate large quantities of lettuce for
relief from their misery."

For the truly sleep-deprived, a salad for supper could just be the
thing.