Generate an explanation for the given claim using the provided supporting material from the paragraph. Please consider the following points while generating an output. 1) The claim will always have supporting proof in the paragraph, and the paragraph will have a clear point of view supporting the claim. 2) There can be instances where direct correlation to the claim is not available. Make use of the sentences in the paragraph to provide a corresponding output supporting the claim. 3) The explanation should be at least one and at most twelve sentences long.

[Q]: Paragraph: Use of such pills, which include Sanofi SA’s Ambien and other similar drugs, was significantly higher for those in their 50s as well as age 80 and older, according to the findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall about 8.6 million people, or 4 percent of U.S. adults reported recently using sleep medication, CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics said in a report. But data showed higher use among middle-aged adults ages 50 to 59 and the elderly. Six percent of those ages 50 to 59 said they had taken a prescription sleep pill in the last 30 days, and 7 percent of those age 80 and older reported such use. In between, the numbers dip slightly below 6 percent for those in their 60s and 70s. In comparison, just 2 percent of those aged 20-39 said they had recently taken a sleep aid. CDC researcher Yinong Chong said people in their 50s could have trouble sleeping because of work and family stress. “It gives the picture of a sandwiched group who has family, not only children but also probably elderly parents but still you’re likely to be in the workforce, so you get squeezed at both ends in terms of family responsibility and job responsibility,” she said. Sleep may improve when people retire before potential chronic health problems kick in and begin interfering with sleep, Chong said, adding more study is needed. The data also showed that 5 percent of women surveyed said they had recently taken a sleep aid compared to about 3 percent of male respondents, according to CDC’s report. Chong said it was not clear why women were more likely to use the drugs. While previous data have tracked prescriptions dispensed for sleep aids, the CDC said its study is the first based on a survey of actual use of such drugs. Researchers for the Atlanta-based health agency’s National Center for Health Statistics questioned a sampling of adults age 20 and older about whether they had used prescription sleep aids within the last 30 days and asked participants to show interviewers the prescription medication. “You get how many people are actually using them,” Chong said in an interview, noting that prescription data could include multiple prescriptions for one patient or prescriptions that are never filled or even used. “This is actual use.”  Prescription sleep aids have become somewhat controversial because their effect can linger even after some patients wake up. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun taking a closer look at sleep drugs, ordering lower-doses for Ambien and similar pills amid concerns that their active ingredient remained in patients’ blood the following morning at levels high enough to make driving and other activities dangerous. And just last month, the FDA rejected an experimental sleep drug from Merck & Co Inc, saying the proposed doses were not safe but that a lower-dose version might be acceptable. Not surprisingly, respondents to CDC’s study who said they slept five hours or less each night or those diagnosed with a sleep disorder were more likely to report using prescription aids. Additionally, more whites and people with higher levels of education also reported greater use, the agency said. Socioeconomic factors are likely behind those numbers, Chong said, since patients must be able to afford a doctor’s care and the medication. According to prescription data from IMS Health, Ambien and other versions of the drug zolpidem was ranked 15th among the most dispensed medications in the United States. Claim: Use of sleeping pills highest among older Americans: CDC.
[A]: Older U.S. adults, particularly women, are more likely to use prescription sleep medications to try to get the minimum seven hours of sleep experts generally recommend, U.S. data released on Thursday showed.


[Q]: Paragraph: The significant costs of both drugs were mentioned. Nice job. Good job describing the benefits reported in the two drug studies. The two papers present a bewildering array of statistics. This story did a nice job distilling the information into a couple of very understandable sentences. Good job explaining signifcant potential harms of both drugs – something competitors didn’t do at all. Nice job, including linking (in the online version) to the papers in the New England Journal of Medicine. No disease-mongering of melanoma. Several independent sources cited. The story adequately explained the comparisons between both new drugs and the older dacarbazine chemo drug. Vemurafenib was described as experimental and as “expected to be approved by the FDA within a few months.”  Ipilimumab was explained to be approved in March and already on the market. The relative novelty of both drugs was well explained. It’s clear that the story did not rely on a news release. Claim: Drugs Show Promise Slowing Advanced Melanoma
[A]: The story made strong, clear attempts to report in a restrained manner, using terms/phrases such as:  “notable progress” “do not cure” “might add two to several moths to expected lifespans” “To be sure, more than half of patients with metastatic melanoma would not be helped all that much by either drug.”   Stories about cancer – perhaps especially melanoma because of its treatment challenges – should balance promise with realistic context. This story did a better job of that than the competitors’ efforts we reviewed.


[Q]: Paragraph: The researchers with the University of Saskatchewan are set to publish their research about the insect-killer imidacloprid in the journal Science on Friday. The insecticide is among a class called neonicotinoids that has been widely studied for its health impacts on bees. The scientists studied white-crowned sparrows that consumed small doses of the pesticide and found that the birds experienced weight loss and delays in migration. Those changes can hinder the birds’ ability to reproduce and survive, and that might be contributing to songbird population declines, said Christy Morrissey, a biology professor at the university and the senior author of the paper. The paper breaks new ground in the study of pesticide effects on birds because it shows a biological link between the chemicals and their population loss, Morrissey said. More than 70 percent of North American farmland birds are showing population declines, she said. “It causatively links a pesticide to something that is really, tangibly negative to birds that is causing their population declines,” Morrissey said. “It’s clear evidence these chemicals can affect populations.” Farmers use imidacloprid and other neonicotinoids — a class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine —to control pests that can damage crops. Studies have linked neonicotinoids, and imidacloprid specifically, to decreases in survival of honey bees. The Saskatchewan study shows that the pesticide could be having a major effect in migratory song birds, said Frank Drummond, a University of Maine professor of insect ecology who has studied the impact of neonicotinoids. Drummond, who was not involved in the study, said a major question remains about whether birds are getting exposed to the pesticide during their migration. The researchers conducted their study by capturing and exposing dozens of sparrows to small doses of the pesticide during a stop on their migration in Canada. They measured the birds’ body composition and affixed a radio transmitter when setting them free. They found birds that received higher doses of the pesticide ate less food and lost body mass, which meant they stayed at the migration stopover site longer. Migration is a dangerous time for birds, and the delay could result in exposure to predators and less reproductive success, said Nicole Michel, a senior quantitative ecologist with Audubon. Michel, who was also not involved in the study, said she wouldn’t encourage a ban on neonicotinoids, because that would likely result in more use of other pesticides that could be as harmful or worse. A better outcome would be for farmers to use them more conservatively, she said. “Instead of spraying and treating all these seeds ahead of time, it would be cost efficient to only treat after outbreaks are observed,” she said. The key manufacturer of imidacloprid is agrochemical giant Bayer CropScience. David Fischer, chief scientist for pollinator safety for the company, said the study is solid on a toxicological basis. However, he said it’s not representative of the amount of exposure to the pesticide that birds will experience in the wild. “There’s no support for thinking neonicotinoids are responsible for songbird decline, which they sort of hint at in the study,” he said. ___ Follow Patrick Whittle on Twitter: @pxwhittle Claim: Pesticide criticized in bee deaths could also kill birds.
[A]:
Scientists studying a widely used pesticide say even small doses of the chemical can have crippling health effects on migrating birds, and it might be contributing to declines in their overall populations.