 Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or to
sleep through the night. Sleep patterns vary among people of different ages, with older
people sleeping fewer hours, more lightly and with more interruptions than younger people.
Human beings do require a certain amount of sleep, however, even if the absolute amount
varies from person to person. In medical experiments, people who are awakened during a
particular phase of normal sleep called REM sleep, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep, a phase
during which dreaming occurs, eventually suffer from hallucinations and severe behavioral
disruptions. Most people who sleep poorly do not experience such severe effects, although
those who are unable to sleep or whose sleep is interrupted may be irritable, have
difficulty concentrating, or may have memory problems. As
many as 1/3 of the adults of the world will experience some degree of insomnia during the
year, with between 10% and 20% experiencing severe sleeplessness. Some studies indicate
that 25% of adults use some form of sleep-inducing drug or alcohol to treat their
insomnia, while only 5% of people with insomnia seek medical help and 65% of people with
insomnia fail to tell their doctors about the problem.
Insomnia can be a symptom of a great many disorders ranging from
depression to thyroid disease and cardiovascular disease. Other reasons for waking during
the night, such as needing to go to the bathroom or hot flashes during menopause can
interrupt normal sleep, though the vast majority of insomniacs have no identifyable reason
for their sleeplessness.
Steps to relieve sleeplessness
Several simple steps can help relieve problems falling asleep:
--Avoid coffee or tea for 6 hours before going to bed. The effects of caffeine can be long
lasting.
--Avoid taking afternoon naps, no matter how tired you may be.
--Check the labels of medications you may be taking for warnings about interfering with
sleep, but avoid taking sleeping aids or relatives' sleeping pills. Some of them can be
habit forming.
--Make the bedroom as comfortable as possible, and use the bedroom for nothing but sleep
and sexual activity. Working on that last report will do nothing to help you get to sleep.
Keep the bedroom neither too hot nor too cold.
--Develop a regular bedtime routine, and do those last routine things just before going to
bed. Checking the doors, closing the windows, brushing your teeth and so on can be part of
that last routine of the day.
--Reading before going to bed can help relax you, though television and radio are likely
to be more stimulating than relaxing.
--Eating foods high in the amino acid L-tryptophan can help you to sleep.
Some of these foods include turkey, milk, tuna fish, bananas, figs and dates. Eating a
light carbohydrate snack can be helpful also.
--Relative deficiencies of calcium and magnesium may also cause easy waking. Dietary sources of magnesium include dried beans, green leafy
vegetables such as spinach and swiss chard, soybeans, pumpkins seeds, wheat germ, and
almonds. Calcium can be found in many different foods, including dairy products, fish,
broccoli, almonds, dried figs, kelp, prunes, rhubarb, seaweed (1710 mg/3 oz), soybeans
(214mg/ 3 oz), sesame seeds, watercress, dandelion greens, amaranth and chickweed.
--Taking a combined calcium-magnesium tablet 30 minutes before going to bed can also be
helpful. Melatonin can be an effective sleep aid but should not be taken regularly or for
more than a few nights in a row.
--Certain herbs and herbal teas can be useful as well: California poppy, hops, kava kava,
passionflower, skullcap and valerian root as well as catnip and chamomile in tea form.
--And be sure to tell your doctor about your sleeping problem if it persists.
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