What is Insomnia?
Insomnia is a sleep disorder.In this it is difficult to fall asleep, to stay asleep.It makes to wake up too nearly,It can be acute or chronic.Here you will finf the symptoms, and treatments of Insomnia. It is a common sleep disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. It is characterized by difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, and it can have a significant impact on one’s health and quality of life. Insomnia can be caused by many factors such as stress, anxiety, depression, or chronic pain. It can also be caused by certain medical conditions such as sleep apnea or narcolepsy. Insomnia is a common problem that affects millions of people worldwide. There are many treatments for insomnia but they often come with side effects such as drowsiness the next day or daytime fatigue. There are many causes of insomnia including stress, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and certain medical conditions like sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Insomnia treatments come with side effects.
What is insomnia symptoms, causes, and treatments?
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that affects the quality of life of many people. It can be caused by a number of factors such as stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep deprivation. Insomnia is a sleep disorder.
It affects millions of people worldwide.
An individual with insomnia will find it difficult to fall asleep at night.
Routine sleep requirement –
In adult age minimum of 7-9 hrs of sleep is required per 24 hrs.
Nowadays in modern times we find all want to make progress in short time intervals.
Most people do not give sufficient time to sleep.
Nervousness and depressed mood is quite common in these individuals.
Causes /Etiology of insomnia
Psychological causes
Physical causes
Medical problems
The stress of short term
Shift duty in the job
Jet lag
Household disputes
Noisy surrounding
People coming to stay in a too hot or too cold climate.
Physical stress causes fatigue and hence ease of sleep.
People have no physical stress at all, have no exertion and so the difficulty falling asleep.
Taking too much care of someone in the house can also result in insomnia
Using drugs for recreational purposes like cocaine, ecstasy
Bad dreams -These are usually related to family or occupational stress . Attempts should be made to overcome these by counseling and mutual discussion.
Other diseases and disorders responsible for insomnia are-
Sleep apnoea
Restless leg syndrome
Hyperthyroidism
Gastrooesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Any disease or disorder that causes chronic pain can cause insomnia.
Thus insomnia is not a disease as such but it is an outcome or manifestation of some underlying illness.
Certain physiological conditions like menopause can cause sweating at night and thus insomnia.
In Alzheimer’s disease due to neurological changes in the brain the pattern of sleep is disturbed, so insomnia results.
Fatal familial insomnia –
This is a rare genetic disorder.
It is life-threatening.
Nowadays we find many people addicted to cell phones.
Without going through their cell phones, it may be social media or watching videos, they think that before going to bed is the only right time for this as throughout the day they are dedicated to their career and so they don’t get time . Going through the mobile screens this way before going to sleep before night disturbs their sleep pattern.
Medications –
Certain drugs that can cause insomnia are –
Beta-blockers
Alpha-blockers
Statins
Corticosteroids
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antidepressants
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-inhibitors)
Angiotensin-2 receptor blockers
Cholinesterase inhibitors
Non-sedating H-1 agonists
Combination of glucosamine and chondroitin
Symptoms and signs(Clinical features of insomnia)
Short-term insomnia can cause fatigue in the daytime, and difficulties in concentration.
In long term, it can be the risk of causing many diseases.
A patient of insomnia finds it difficult to fall asleep at night time in regular sleeping hrs.
So it can cause lethargy and sleepiness during day time.
A generalized feeling of being unwell.
Mood changes like irritability and anxiety.
Long-term insomnia can cause diseases like –
Cardiovascular disease
Depression
Diabetes
Obesity.
A patient of insomnia may have –
Gastrointestinal symptoms
Less vigour, motivation
Lack of coordination leads to accidents.
Anxiety about sleep.
Using alcohol or sleep-inducing medicines to fall asleep
Tension headache
Difficulties in socializing oneself.
Types of Insomnia –
Insomnia can be acute when it is of short duration or chronic when it lasts for months or years.
.Primary, when insomnia is a problem in itself, or secondary when it arises from some underlying medical
disease or disorder.
According to severity insomnia is classified as –
Mild in which there is a lack of sleep and tiredness.
Moderate-in which the daily functioning is affected.
Severe insomnia -in which life is significantly affected.
Treatment of insomnia –
It depends on the underlying cause.
The underlying cause must be treated and
the type of insomnia
Following are the approaches followed
Counseling
Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)
Medications
Over-the-counter sleep aids
Melatonin
The following things should be implemented –
Going to bed and waking up at the same time
Avoid using screens of cell phones, tablets, laptops, LCD TVs, or any other TV before going to sleep at night.
Get to sleep early time, till 11 pm or 12 am, not too late like 1 am or 2 am. This ensures good health.
Also, wake up early in the morning till 6 am.
The proverb -Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy, and wise -is very much true.
Nowadays ambitious people sleep too late and wake up too late in the morning hrs, or even if they wake up early in the morning till 6 am, they can spoil their health.
Complete your daily schedule 1 hr before going to sleep at night.
In the winter season, you should have an air heater and in the summer season, you should have an air conditioner in your bedroom.
Dietary habits –
It should not happen that you have not eaten sufficiently at the time of dinner.
Dinner should be taken 3 hrs before going to sleep.
Tea coffee alcohol should be avoided before going to bed.
Dinner should be a balanced diet, it should be of your choice.
It should not happen that you don’t like the food and eat under the pressure of others.
Patients with GERD(Gastrooesophageal reflux disease) should sleep with the head end of the bed elevated or they should sleep with 1-2 extra pillows below their head.
Treatment of acidity, GERD, should be completed by a qualified and experienced Gastroenterologist.
Treatment of cough, and cold, if any should be completed.
Regular physical exercise.
Stress relaxation exercises
Deep breathing exercises should be done before sleep.
If reading or music helps you to get to sleep early then it should be opted.
Avoid sleeping in the daytime so that you get a sound sleep during the night.
If any underlying medical problem is there, then treatment should be started by a qualified and experienced MD General Medicine doctor.
Diagnosis of insomnia is made if the individual has difficulty sleeping for 3 nights per week and if this continues for 3 months.
Risk factors Insomnia –
People traveling across time zones, people with frequent travel across different countries.
Industry workers working in shifts
Old age
Too much caffeine, medications, drugs, or alcohol
family history of insomnia
experiencing a lot of unfavorable life events
being pregnant
Females going through menopause
having certain unfavorable physical or mental health conditions
Insomnia is more frequent in females.
For additional information on Insomnia please click on the link given below
https://healthuseful.com/insomnia-symptom…atments-dr-sagar/