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What is insomnia?

Insomnia is defined as a prolonged or abnormal inability to sleep. However, there are subsets of insomnia. The inability to get to sleep, awakening in the middle of a deep sleep, having difficulty falling back to sleep, the absence of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, are all forms of insomnia. Anything that interferes with a restful night?s sleep may be defined as insomnia.

What are the causes, incidence and risk factors of insomnia?

Insomnia is also characterized as primary or secondary insomnia depending on its cause.

- Primary Insomnia ? Refers to a sleep disturbance that occurs without any specific underlying condition. Primary insomnia is largely due to learned maladaptive sleep patterns and represents the most common form of insomnia.

- Things like stress, environmental noise, extreme temperatures, changes in surrounding environment, disruptions to an individual's normal sleep/wake schedule (like jet lag), and medication side effects can cause primary insomnia. Behavioral factors such as excessive use of drugs, alcohol or caffeine, shift work, chronic stress and napping may also contribute to insomnia.
- Secondary Insomnia ? Secondary insomnia is a sleep disturbance caused by a specific physicial or psychological condition. Types of secondary insomnia include insomnia from sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, circadian rhythm disorder, and substance use or withdrawl. Additionally, other physical and mental conditions that might cause insomnia include depression, arthritis, kidney disease, heart failure, asthma, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, Parkinson's disease and hyperthyroidism.

What are the symptoms of insomnia-Disease?

Symptoms are:
- Have difficulty staying asleep ? You wake up frequently during the night with difficulty going back to sleep.

- Wake up too early ? this is not normal for you if it is reducing your needed sleep time.

- Feel non-refreshed after sleep and tired during the day ? This may indicate that you are waking up during the night or not getting an adequate total number of hours of sleep.

- Feel restless or anxious as bedtime approaches ? You may be anticipating insomnia and worrying about it.

Diagnosis & Tests

Diagnosing sleep disturbance and its cause is the most important step in restoring healthy sleep. The diagnosis of insomnia is made by an expert based on the patient's reported signs and symptoms. It can be useful for the patient to keep a daily record for two weeks of sleep patterns, food intake, use of alcohol, medications, exercise, and any other information recommended by an expert.