Insomnia - what is it? Insomnia: causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

Often at a reception in a clinic you can hear a strange diagnosis - "insomnia." What it is? In fact, this term is called ordinary and familiar to many insomnia, which turned from a routine problem into a real pathology. This sleep disorder manifests itself in several forms. Most likely, you have insomnia syndrome, if:

• You hardly fall asleep at night;
• You wake up several times an hour, even if the day was intense and you are very tired;
• You wake up very early in the morning and can not fall asleep again.

Upon awakening, people with insomnia feel overwhelmed and tired. Prolonged disorder can not only deprive the energy and good mood, often this pathology seriously undermines health, interferes with normal work and significantly reduces the overall quality of life.

How right?

How many hours a day should I take to sleep? With extreme accuracy, this question is impossible to answer, since everything depends on the individual characteristics of each organism, but most adults need to sleep at night for about seven to eight hours.

Types of insomnia

At some point, some adult patients experience short-term attacks of acute insomnia, which last for several days or weeks. Usually such a reaction of the body follows significant stress or traumatic events. Types of insomnia also include long-term, or chronic, insomnia - a disorder that lasts continuously for a month or longer. Sometimes the inability to sleep normally is an independent pathology, but in some cases it is a symptom of other health problems or a side effect of taking certain medications.

Signs of pathology

The following symptoms of insomnia are known to medicine:

• Difficulty falling asleep at night;
• Frequent awakenings in the middle of the night;
• An early morning awakening;
• Poor health after a night of full sleep;
• Fatigue or drowsiness during the day;
• Irritability, depression, or anxiety;
• Difficulty with attention or memorization;
• Progressive absent-mindedness;
• Unceasing anxiety about sleep.

Causes

And yet, insomnia - what is this: a direct violation of health or a sign of another pathology? Often, insomnia is the result of stressful events in the life of the patient or the result of his bad habits, interfering with normal sleep and wakefulness.

The most common causes of insomnia are:

• Stress. Anxiety about work, study, health or finances, family well-being is the main prerequisite for sleep disorders, since such anxieties keep the mind in an active, thinking mode. Traumatic life events (illness or death of loved ones, divorce or loss of prestigious work) can also lead to insomnia.
• Schedule of trips or work. The daily biorhythms of a person function like an internal clock, determining not only body temperature and metabolic features, but also sleep and wakefulness. Violation of daily biorhythms can provoke insomnia. Often such a disorder affects people who often travel through the air between different time zones, as well as those who work on a shift schedule.
• Bad habits. Irregular bedtime, nap during the day, uncomfortable bed, active pastime before bed, use of the bed as a place to eat, work or watch TV - all this causes insomnia. Computers, televisions, video games, smartphones and any other devices with luminous screens can disrupt the normal cycle of sleep and wakefulness.
• Excessively plentiful dinner. If you really want, you can eat a little bit of fruit or low-fat dairy products before going to bed, but a full meal at night almost always causes considerable discomfort and prevents you from falling asleep. Many people in such cases suffer from heartburn - the reverse casting of food and acidic gastric juice into the esophagus. Unpleasant sensation, of course, also does not contribute to a quick falling asleep.

Specific background

Not always the reasons for this pathology seem so harmless. In a number of cases, insomnia is caused by:

• Mental disorders. Anxiety and post-traumatic stress - this is not just a consequence of heavy emotions. Very often such disorders develop into serious mental disorders. Too early awakening is one of the signs of chronic depression.
• Medicines. Many drugs interfere with normal sleep. These include, for example, antidepressants and agents for asthma and unstable blood pressure. Even the most seemingly simple and safe medicines sold in pharmacies on the basis of OTC (painkillers, allergy and cold remedies, biologically active dietary supplements for weight loss) contain caffeine and other stimulants that prevent fast falling asleep.
• Diseases. Most often, insomnia is observed in atherosclerosis, diabetes, cancer, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux, hormonal disorders, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Risk factors

Almost all people from time to time suffer from sleepless nights. However, in most cases, insomnia is observed in patients to whom one of the following statements applies:

• Belonging to the female sex. A certain role is played by hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle and menopause. During a climax, sleep is disturbed by night tides. Insomnia is also common in pregnant women.
• Age over 60 years. Many elderly people complain about such an annoying problem as insomnia. What is this - a disease or a sign of approaching old age? In fact, the state of human health does change with age, and most pensioners are struggling with various manifestations of insomnia.
• The effect of significant stress. Short-term problems in the family or at work can provoke acute insomnia. Chronic insomnia occurs when a person is forced to stay in unbearable conditions for a very long time.
• Lack of a regime. Most often, a normal sleep is prevented by a shift work schedule.

Diagnostics

The first thing that a doctor should determine when a patient arrives to him with complaints about a bad dream is the nature of the pathology. Most likely in this case, of course, insomnia. What is this - an independent problem or a symptom of a hidden disease? For the beginning the doctor conducts the following examinations:

• Medical checkup. If the causes of insomnia remain unknown, the specialist will first of all search for other possible pathologies potentially associated with the sleep and wake cycle. Sometimes blood tests may be required - for example, they determine if the patient is suffering from thyroid disorders.
• Analysis of sleep patterns. You may need to keep a sleep diary for a couple of weeks - the doctor must understand how much your individual regime affects the quality of night rest.

Examination of the patient during sleep

If your insomnia is not backed up by obvious causes (or if you suffer from disorders such as nocturnal sleep apnea), it may be worth spending the night in a specialized sleep center. In such institutions, the body's activity is carefully monitored during rest. Doctors measure electrical impulses of the brain, analyze breathing, heart rate, eye and body movements. All this is of paramount importance for confirming the diagnosis of "insomnia".

Treatment

If the simple disposal of bad habits was not enough, the doctor will write out a prescription for you to buy special medicines in the pharmacy for the fight against insomnia. Most often, experts prescribe medicines containing:

• Eszopiclone ("Lunesta");
• Ramelteon ("rozere");
• Zaleplon (Sonata);
• Zolpidem (Edluar, Intermezzo, Zolpimist).

There are, of course, many other drugs sold without a prescription. You can choose a sleeping pill based on your own preferences, but doctors do not recommend drinking the same medicine for too long.

An alternative option is taking sedatives - for example, valerian or motherwort.

In addition, yoga, tai chi, meditation and acupuncture will help to calm the mind.