We all look forward to a good night’s sleep. Sleep allows our body to rest and to restore its energy levels. Without enough restful sleep, not only can we become grumpy and irritable, but also inattentive and more prone to accidents. Like food and water, adequate sleep is essential to good health and quality of life.

There are two types of sleep: non-rapid eye movement — or NREM sleep — and rapid eye movement — or REM sleep. NREM sleep includes four stages, ranging from light to deep sleep. Then we go into REM sleep, the most active stage of sleep when dreaming often occurs. During REM sleep, the eyes move back and forth beneath the eyelids and muscles become immobile. We cycle through the NREM-REM stages of sleep approximately every 90 minutes.

Source: National Institute on Aging

Some people are not affected by it until it suddenly hits them one day. Insomnia is characterized by lack of sleep, waking up in the night and overall trouble falling back asleep once you’re awake. Insomnia interrupts all stages of sleep, and every stage is vital for a refreshing night in bed. Without Deep Sleep, the REM cycle or any other phase of sleep you wake up feeling groggy.

Most people are able to reduce the effects of insomnia by simply cutting back on caffeine, not eating or exercising before bed and changing their diets. Though these things may help Insomnia is rooted in issues the individual faces everyday. Change in diet will help, but you need to find the source of the stress, anxiety and depression.

Irene Mckay has worked with sleep researchers for over a decade, specializing in clinical studies designed to improve the quality of restful sleep in individuals suffering from chronic and transient insomnia. She runs a research and treatment site called Insomnia Cures where she critiques and explains various insomnia treatments.

Her works have been featured in medical periodicals and has completed a dissertation titled “How the Quality of Your Sleep Affects the Quality of Your Life”, featured at a prominent international medical convention in 2006. She is passionate and heartfelt in her desire to help people achieve a better lifestyle through tried and proven health systems.

Types of Insomnia

Insomnia is classified into three types – Transient, Acute (Short-Term) and Chronic. Transient Insomnia lasts from a single night to few weeks and after that everything will be normal. Sleeplessness caused due to a short term anxiety or jet-lag can be grouped under transient insomnia. If such sleeplessness occurs again and again, then that condition is referred to as intermittent.

Acute Insomnia lasts from three weeks to six months, but the patient experiences no symptoms or episodes after that. If sleeplessness occurs for at least three nights a week and the pattern continues to over a month or more, then it is considered to be Chronic Insomnia. It is the most severe form of insomnia one can get.

Causes

Insomnia can be primary or secondary. Primary insomnia is caused naturally and is in no way related to any health issue or disease. Secondary insomnia is the result of some medical condition – such as asthma, cancer, arthritis – fear, stress, anxiety, medications, or a poor sleeping environment in one’s bedroom (partner snoring or any other irritating sound or noise constantly disturbing the sleep).

Some other causes of insomnia include sleep apnea, parasomnia, mania, hypomania, gastroesophageal reflux disease etc. It can also be a symptom of an approaching depression or hyper-thyroidsm.

Treatments

As mentioned earlier, insomnia may be the result of a variety of factors. Hence its treatment also includes diagnosing the exact cause of sleeplessness, and addressing the issue precisely. For example, if insomnia is caused due to some underlying mental illnesses, it must be cured before the patient could again able to sleep peacefully. In some cases, doctors may prescribe sleeping pills to bring back the sleep, but such a methodology is not advisable for longer periods. Relaxation therapy, meditation, acupuncture, aromatherapy, reconditioning, and sleep restriction techniques are also invariably suggested for insomnia, but its effectiveness may vary from person to person.

About The Author

Jason Rickard is the owner of http://www.yourfavouriteshop.com – Offering White Noise and Relaxation CDs – Visit http://www.hapahapa.com for more articles.

Narcolepsy is not rare, but it is an underrecognized and underdiagnosed condition. The disorder is estimated to affect about one in every 2,000 Americans. But the exact prevalence rate remains uncerntain, and the disorder may affect a larger segment of the population.

Narcolepsy appears throughout the world in every racial and ethnic group, affecting males and females equally. But prevalence rates vary among populations. Compared to the U.S. population, for example, the prevalence rate is substantially lower in Israel (about one per 500,000) and considerably higher in Japan (about one per 600).

Most cases of narcolepsy are sporadic-that is, the disorder occurs independently in individuals without strong evidence of being inherited. But familial clusters are known to occur. Up to 10 percent of patients diagnosed with narcolepsy with cataplexy report having a close relative with the same symptoms. Genetic factors alone are not sufficient to cause narcolepsy. Other factors-such as infection, immune-system dysfunction, trauma, hormonal changes, stress-may also be present before the disease develops. Thus, while close relatives of people with narcolepsy have a statistically higher risk of developing the disorder than do members of the general population, that risk remains low in comparison to diseases that are purely genetic in origin.

* Obstructive sleep apnea is a temporary cessation of breathing that occurs repeatedly during sleep and is caused by a narrowing of the airway. Restless legs syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by unpleasant sensations-burning, creeping, tugging-in the legs and an uncontrollable urge to move when at rest.

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke ]]> http://www.my-insomnia.com/who-gets-narcolepsy/feed/ 0 http://www.my-insomnia.com/narcolepsy/ http://www.my-insomnia.com/narcolepsy/#comments Sun, 17 May 2009 01:25:56 +0000 megdilts http://www.my-insomnia.com/?p=50

Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder caused by the brain’s inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally. At various times throughout the day, people with narcolepsy experience fleeting urges to sleep. If the urge becomes overwhelming, patients fall asleep for periods lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. In rare cases, some people may remain asleep for an hour or longer.

Narcoleptic sleep episodes can occur at any time, and thus frequently prove profoundly disabling. People may involuntarily fall asleep while at work or at school, when having a conversation, playing a game, eating a meal, or, most dangerously, when driving an automobile or operating other types of potentially hazardous machinery. In addition to daytime sleepiness, three other major symptoms frequently characterize narcolepsy: cataplexy, or the sudden loss of voluntary muscle tone; vivid hallucinations during sleep onset or upon awakening; and brief episodes of total paralysis at the beginning or end of sleep.

Contrary to common beliefs, people with narcolepsy do not spend a substantially greater proportion of their time asleep during a 24-hour period than do normal sleepers. In addition to daytime drowsiness and involuntary sleep episodes, most patients also experience frequent awakenings during nighttime sleep. For these reasons, narcolepsy is considered to be a disorder of the normal boundaries between the sleeping and waking states.

For most adults, a normal night’s sleep lasts about 8 hours and is composed of four to six separate sleep cycles. A sleep cycle is defined by a segment of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep followed by a period of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The NREM segment can be further divided into stages according to the size and frequency of brain waves. REM sleep, in contrast, is accompanied by bursts of rapid eye movement (hence the acronym REM sleep) along with sharply heightened brain activity and temporary paralysis of the muscles that control posture and body movement. When subjects are awakened from sleep, they report that they were “having a dream” more often if they had been in REM sleep than if they had been in NREM sleep. Transitions from NREM to REM sleep are governed by interactions among groups of neurons (nerve cells) in certain parts of the brain.

Scientists now believe that narcolepsy results from disease processes affecting brain mechanisms that regulate REM sleep. For normal sleepers a typical sleep cycle is about 100 – 110 minutes long, beginning with NREM sleep and transitioning to REM sleep after 80 – 100 minutes. But, people with narcolepsy frequently enter REM sleep within a few minutes of falling asleep.

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke ]]> http://www.my-insomnia.com/narcolepsy/feed/ 0 http://www.my-insomnia.com/what-can-i-do-to-sleep-better/ http://www.my-insomnia.com/what-can-i-do-to-sleep-better/#comments Fri, 15 May 2009 18:14:46 +0000 admin http://www.my-insomnia.com/?p=48 * Try to go to sleep at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning. Do not take naps after 3 p.m.
* Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol late in the day or at night.
* Get regular exercise. Exercise during the day–make sure you exercise at least 5 to 6 hours before bedtime.
* Make sure you eat dinner at least 2 to 3 hours before bedtime.
* Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool. If light is a problem, try a sleeping mask. If noise is a problem, try earplugs, a fan, or a “white noise” machine to cover up the sounds.
* Follow a routine to help relax and wind down before sleep, such as reading a book, listening to music, or taking a bath.
* If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes or don’t feel drowsy, get up and read or do something that is not too active until you feel sleepy. Then try going back to bed.
* If you lay awake worrying about things, try making a to-do list before you go to bed.
* Use your bed only for sleep and sex.

See your doctor if you think that you have insomnia or another sleep problem.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

If your insomnia makes it hard for you to function during the day, talk to your doctor.

Treatment for chronic insomnia includes:

* Finding and treating any medical conditions or mental health problems.
* Looking for routines or behaviors, like drinking alcohol at night, that may lead to the insomnia or make it worse, and stopping (or reducing) them.
* Possibly using sleeping pills, although controversy surrounds the long-term use of sleeping pills. You should talk to your doctor about the risks and side-effects.
* Trying one or more methods to improve sleep, such as relaxation therapy, sleep restriction therapy, and reconditioning.

1. Relaxation Therapy. This type of therapy aims to reduce stress and body tension. As a result, your mind is able to stop “racing,” the muscles can relax, and restful sleep can occur.
2. Sleep Restriction. Some women suffering from insomnia spend too much time in bed trying to fall asleep. They may be helped by a sleep restriction program under the guidance of their doctor. The goal is to sleep continuously and get out of bed at the desired wake time. This treatment involves, for example, going to bed later or getting up earlier and slowly increasing the amount of time in bed until the person is able to sleep normally throughout the night.
3. Reconditioning. This means using your bed only at bedtime when sleepy or for sex. Avoid other activities in your bed, such as reading or watching TV. Over time, your body will relate bed and bedtime with sleep.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services