You might have probably heard about using Chloroform for sleep and heard speculations of its effectiveness as a sleep agent. But just how effective? Are there attendant side effects? You must have seen movies where a substance is sprayed on a handkerchief and used to put a person sleep. Thank you Hollywood. Now to the real thing
WHAT IS CHLOROFORM?
Chloroform is made up of chloroformyle, or perchloride of formyle. Chloroform was being used in to treat asthma and was first discovered independently by three scientist, Samuel Guthrie, Justus von Liebig, and Eugene Soubeiran. Choloroform was given it’s name by Jean-Baptiste Dumas in 1834.Choloform was first being used as a sort of aesthesia for painful medical procedures.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
What chloroform does it that it slows down the central nervous system. So if an individual is exposed to the right amount of chloroform they will go to sleep and it could also cause dizziness, fatigue and unconsciousness. Studies have shown that chloroform increases the movement of potassium ions through certain potassium channels in nerve cells. Activating these potassium channels will lead to hyperpolarization of membranes and makes it less excitable. When this happens it slows down the senses and might causes sleepiness or dizziness.
CHLOROFORM AS A SLEEP AID?
Chloroform is not accessible to the average citizen. Even if you can get your hands on some it would be dangerous to use it lul yourself to sleep because it comes with the certain side effects:
- Dizziness
- Headaches and even
- Nausea
According to research if chloroform is used in large amounts one can have terrible side effects such as damage to the kidneys and liver and even malformed growth in foetus. Apart from being addictive it has been used severally in the past to commit horrendous crimes.
Most countries regulate the use of chloroform as a sleep aid or for any other reasons apart from academic (research) and industrial use.
Chloroform should not be adopted as a sleep aid.
Conclusions
There are many products that can work effectively as good sleep aids. Some are herbal or other are chemical based. Statistics show that people who use the herbal choices usually have a longer lasting solution to their sleep problems. If would like some recommendation look over my over the counter sleep aids page.
