Most of us battle with insomnia at some stage of our lives and have trouble sleeping at night. It's a sleep disorder that can involve:
Difficulty falling asleep;
Difficulty staying asleep;
Waking up too early in the morning;
Not feeling refreshed when you get out of bed;
As a result, there are many daytime consequences such as tiredness, lack of energy, difficulty in concentrating, mood swings and irritability. About 30 to 40 percent of adults suffer from some level of insomnia within any given year, with 10 to 15 percent of these cases being chronic or severe. The prevalence of insomnia increases with age and is more common in women.
Difficulty falling asleep or 'initiation insomnia', is frequently caused by anxiety and bad sleep habits. This includes not giving yourself enough time to wind down after the stresses of the day; taking work home at night; eating a heavy, spicy meal before bedtime and the consumption of alcohol and caffeine. Irregular bedtimes are another contributor here, as is a sleep environment that is not conducive to getting a good night's sleep.
The inability to maintain sleep, in other words, waking up in the early hours of the morning, is also very common. It frequently goes hand in hand with depression; up to 70 percent of patients with depression suffer from insomnia - so it's important to be checked for this if you are waking up at night.
Another contributor here is alcohol, which should never be used as a nightcap. Although it may allow you to doze off straight away, it will wake you up at some stage, and you'll have difficulty falling asleep again.
Waking up too early in the morning could be the result of a less-than-ideal sleep environment - a room that's too bright, too warm or too noisy. Alternatively, you could be waking up too early because, quite simply, you've had enough sleep. If you are able to function normally during the day, you can change your bedtime to fit in with your shorter-than-expected sleep requirements.
Waking up feeling un-refreshed despite sleeping normal hours is usually caused by a sleep-disordered breathing condition, one of which is obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). As a result, sufferers often fall asleep at their desks, in company or, far more dangerously, while driving. These patients are typically snorers - probably among the loudest you're likely to hear. Children should never snore. The snoring implies a partial obstruction of the airway and may manifest as learning difficulties.
This obstruction results in disturbed sleep throughout the night. This is a very serious condition that results in metabolic changes in sufferers, leading to weight gain and increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, as well as memory and mood disorders.
There are other causes of un-refreshing sleep, the most common being restless leg syndrome, where movements of the limbs during the night result in poor sleep quality.
Sandra Prior runs her own bodybuilding website at http://bodybuild.rr.nu/.
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