Insomnia

Insomnia is a term used to describe interference with normal sleep patterns. Symptoms include delays in falling asleep, waking during the night but eventually going back to sleep, or waking very early in the morning before the sleep cycle has been completed. Quite often, insomnia is more a perception of sleeplessness than true disturbed sleep. This may be due to disordered sleep patterns or sleep that is so fitful that you wake feeling out of sor ts and tired.

What causes Insomnia?
Everyone occasionally experiences some difficulty sleeping, and sleeping patterns tend to change with age – many older people find they need fewer hours of sleep. Gradually, however, insomnia falls into one of two categories – primary, with no apparent physical or environmental cause and secondary, where a cause can be identified.

Secondary insomnia can be further classified as transient, short term or long term. Transient insomnia lasts for only a few nights and may be due to stress, worry, illness, noise, an itchy rash or some other reason. Short-term insomnia lasts up to 3 weeks, and a cause, either physical or emotional, can usually be found.

Long-term insomnia may be due to environmental factors, such as living in a noisy area. Long-term insomnia can go on indefinitely, unless the cause can be identified and treated. More often, however, it is the result of medical conditions such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, asthma, chronic sinusitis, epilepsy, a peptic ulcer or any painful condition such as backache.

Insomnia can also be brought on by chronic drug or alcohol use, excessive caffeine intake, or the abuse of sleeping pills. Psychiatric conditions, such as depression or stress can also cause long-term insomnia.