A lot of people suffer from insomnia
Sleeping pills which are readily prescribed could increase the risk of death more than four-fold, according to experts.
A new study by Scripps Clinic researchers has found 4.6 times higher risk of death and a significant increase in cancer cases associated with regular pill users.
The study of more than 10,5000 people analysed a wide range of drugs.
The researchers, writing in the BMJ Open, concluded: "As predicted, patients prescribed any hypnotic had substantially elevated hazards of dying compared to thos prescribed with no hypnotics."
They added: "Receiving hypnotic prescriptions was associated with greater than three-fold increased hazards of death even when prescribed fewer than 18 pills a year."
Around a third of people in the UK are thought to suffer bouts of insomnia and for some it can become a debilitating problem.
Insomnia tends to be more common in women and is more likely to affect people as they get older.
The researchers said their "most striking finding" was that those on the lowest doses - four to 18 pills a year - had a 3.6 times higher risk of dying compared to non-users.