Sleeping-pill-happy nation

At least 8.6 million U.S. adults took some form of prescription sleep medication in the last 30 days, a new study concludes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked 17,000 people aged 20 and over between 2005 and 2010, finding that roughly 4 percent of the country’s population took prescription sleep medication like Lunesta and Ambien within the previous month, according to NBC News.

Five percent of people in their 40s and 50s said they used sleep-aid medication, with that number rising to 7 percent among adults over 80 years old.

The study also found that 5 percent of women reported using sleep aids, compared to 3.1 percent of men—a number attributed to the strain women are under from trying to juggle the demands of work and family life.