Insomnia
You have probably had a night or two that you couldn’t fall asleep or kept waking up through out the night. Well,
there are people all over the world going though that same routine every single night, they have a sleeping disorder called
Insomnia. First we will jump in to the symptoms and types of insomnia, secondly, the causes and risk factors, and finally, we
will cover up with the treatments of insomnia.
The first point we’ll look at is the symptoms of insomnia. EMedicalHeath said that there are 30-50% of the general
population is affected by insomnia and 10% has chronic insomnia. The types of insomnia are Transient, when insomnia lasts
from a single night to a few weeks. Intermittent, insomnia is short term, which happens from time to time. Chronic, insomnia
occurs at least 3 nights a week over a month or more. There are two kind of chronic insomnia, they are primary insomnia
which isn’t related to any other heath problems and secondary insomnia which can be caused by medical condition like cancer
or asthma, drugs, stress, a mental heath problem like depression, or a poor sleeping environment such as too much light or
noise. People may complain about not being able to fall asleep, that problem may be caused by stress. As soon as you take that
stress to bed, it could become chronic insomnia. Daytime problems caused by insomnia could lead to poor concentration,
difficulty with memory, impaired motor coordination, irritability and impaired social interaction, and motor vehicle accidents
due to fatigues, sleep-deprived drivers.
The second point we’ll be looking at is the causes and risk factors of insomnia. There are many causes of insomnia
like: stress and anxiety, they could keep your mind too busy to relax and sleep. Another cause could be depression, you may
either sleep too much or have trouble sleeping if you're depressed. This may be due to chemical imbalances in your brain or
because worries that accompany depression may keep you from relaxing enough to fall asleep when you want to. Stimulants
such as prescription drugs, including antidepressant, high blood pressure and corticosteroid medications and many OTC drugs
could keep you up. Antihistamines may make you groggy but then worsen your urinary problems which cause you to get up
through out the night. Change in your environment or work schedule, travel or working a late or early shift can disrupt your
body's circadian rhythms, making you unable to get to sleep when you want to. Some more causes of insomnia could be long-
term use of sleep medications, medical conditions that cause pain, and eating too much before bed.
The third point we will look at is treatments and tests/exams for insomnia. Treatments you could get are simple and
easy, such as working with your heath care professional to first determine weather another condition like stress, anxiety,
depression, stimulants, or poor sleep habits is causing your insomnia. A second way you could get treated is being able to treat
it with minor lifestyle changes, like modifying your sleep environment, your schedule, and getting more activity. The third way
you can get treated easily is sleep medications, but its is not the first choice for long term insomnia. Now, the tests and exams
you could get to find out if you have insomnia are sometimes complicated. Your doctor will seek out and identify any medical
or psychological illness that maybe contributing to your insomnia. You’ll be asked to complete a sleep log; a 2 week diary of
your sleep- wake periods. Your doctor could also give you a Actigrapghy, it’s a technique to assess sleep-wake patterns over
time. They are small wrist-watch like devices that you wear on your wrist to measure movement during the night. They contain
a microprocessor and an-board memory and can provide data on daytime activities.
Now you can tell if you have insomnia just by everyday things you do. We first looked at the symptoms and types of
insomnia, secondly we looked at the causes and risk factors, then we finally looked to the treatments and tests of insomnia. So
think about it, do you sleep silently through out the night?