Source: Psychology Today:
 
What Can Pose a Greater Cancer Risk than Smoking?
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal (online) raised questions about sleeping pills. The careful work that was done on this study demonstrates a strong link between sleeping pills and mortality (medical lingo for death), particularly from cancer.
 
…Clearly other strategies need to be looked at the provide relief for sleep. The authors say cognitive behavioral therapy is the way to go — it’s what’s called sleep hygiene. One key is getting up at the same time every day until eventually your body forces you to go to sleep earlier. Other strategies include making changes to your sleeping environment, light therapy (getting full-spectrum light early in the morning) and using relaxation strategies before sleep or upon awaking in the middle of the night.
 
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Comments: This article looks in depth at the downside of taking sleeping pills. Given they see a strong negative to taking them, we think it is right of the authors to then focus on what alternatives there are. We recommend reading this for their emphasis on the value of sleep hygiene.