Insomnia-symptom,cause & homoepathic treatment

Insomnia

"I can't sleep!" These three words can explain nights of restless anguish for those who suffer from insomnia. An occasional night without much sleep is normal, but when it continues night after night, a vicious cycle can begin that can be exhausting and extremely frustrating. Insomnia is not defined by the number of hours you sleep every night. The amount of sleep a person needs varies. While most people need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night, some people do well with less, and some need more. But, if you feel that you do not get satisfying sleep, you may have insomnia, a sleep disorder.

Sleep is very essential for the well-being of mind and body. Not only does sleep provide needed time for rest to restore energy and allow the body to renew itself, but your mind needs sleep as well, in order to process the events and stresses of the previous day and to dream. An untreated sleep disorder can lead to a form of psychosis, with delusions and hallucinations. It can also reduce your daytime productivity by affecting co-ordination, reaction time, judgement, also can increase your risk of accidents, and put you at risk for illness and even early death.

Types of Insomnia: There are mainly two types of Insomnia:

·         Acute Insomnia: This runs its course in a few weeks or months and ends without treatment.

·         Chronic Insomnia: This lasts longer than three months and requires treatment.

Insomnia is the inability to obtain an adequate quality or amount of sleep. The difficulty can be in falling asleep, remaining asleep, or both – leaving the sufferer unrested upon waking.  It can be caused by various conditions, diseases, or circumstances. 

Transient insomnia is relatively common occurrence and usually lasts only a few days. Chronic insomnia lasts for longer than three weeks and increases the risk for injuries at home, at work or while driving due to decreased concentration, and can lead to depression.
 Here are 8 different causes of insomnia:

1. Insomnia due to a drug or substance is related to the use of any of the following substances, but it can also occur when you stop using the substance:

•             Alcohol

•             A food item

•             Medication

•             Caffeine

2. Behavioural insomnia of childhood occurs when children don't have a relatively specific bedtime. If children are not given a consistent bedtimes, they may linger awake for hours at night and set a behavioural pattern that could last.

3. Adjustment insomnia is also called short-term insomnia or acute insomnia, and it usually stems from stress. The insomnia should end when the source of stress is gone or with adaptation to the stress. This stress is not always as a result of a negative experience – it can be something exciting or just a big change.

4. Insomnia due to a medical condition is a symptom of a mental health disorder. The course and severity of insomnia are directly linked to that of the mental health disorder, but this insomnia is considered a   disorder only if it is severe enough to require separate treatment

5. Idiopathic insomnia is a lifelong sleep disorder that starts during infancy or childhood and continues into adulthood. This insomnia has no other explained causes. It is not a result of any of the following.

•             Other sleep disorders
•             Medical problems
•             Psychiatric disorders
•             Stressful events
•             Medication use
•             Other behaviours
This insomnia may result from an imbalance in your body, such as an underactive sleep system and/or an overactive awakening system, but the true cause of the disorder is still unclear.

6. Insomnia organic, unspecified is caused by substance exposure, a medical disorder or physical condition, but the specific cause remains unclear. Further testing is required and this name may be used on a temporary basis while further testing and evaluation are conducted.

7. Psychophysiological insomnia is associated with excessive worrying, specifically focused on not being able to sleep. The disorder may start suddenly following an event or develop slowly over many years.
People with this sleep disorder worry excessively about their insomnia and about being tired the next day, resulting in tension and anxiety as bedtime approaches. They may have racing thoughts that all relate to insomnia and trying to fall asleep, which makes falling asleep less likely.

8. Paradoxical insomnia is a complaint of severe insomnia. It occurs without objective evidence of any sleep disturbance. People with this disorder often report little or no sleep for one or more nights. They also describe having an intense awareness of the external environment or internal processes consistent with being awake, suggestive of a state of hyper-arousal. A key feature is an overestimation of the time it takes them to fall asleep. They also underestimate their total sleep time.

Causes of Insomnia: Some conditions that commonly lead to Insomnia are:

·         Certain physical conditions like: the need to urinate frequently, any illness causing pain or difficulty breathing can interfere with both sleep onset and sleep maintenance.

·         Watching exciting programs on television late at night.

·         Consuming excessive caffeine, alcohol or eating a large meal close to bedtime.

·         Vigorous exercise less than three hours before bedtime may disturb sleep patterns.

·         In the majority of insomnia cases, however, the main problem is emotional – worry, anxiety, arguments or depression.

·         Paradoxically, insomnia may result from the use of a sedative prescribed to relieve it.

·         Some people, especially the elderly or those working at night or traveling across time zones, develop a reverse sleep pattern: drowsiness in the morning, sleep during the day and wakefulness at night.

·         Hormonal changes during menstrual cycle and menopause.

·         Sleeping besides a partner that snores too loud.

Symptoms of Insomnia:

·         Difficulty falling asleep.

·         Waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep.

·         Waking up too early.

·         Unrefreshing sleep.

·         It can cause other problems during the day such as sleepiness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and irritability.

HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES FOR INSOMNIA

( Doses and repition as per doctors advise)

Agaricus Muscarius

Agaricus Muscarius sleep remedy can choose, if one has: General signs are general Paralysis, sensation as if pierced by needles of ice, violent bearing-down pains. Symptoms appear diagonally as right arm and left leg; pains are accompanying by sensation of cold, numbness, and tingling. Mind signs are sings, talks, but do not answer, loquacity, aversion to work, indifference, and fearlessness. Head signs are vertigo from sunlight, dull headache from prolong deskwork, headache with a nosebleed. Eye signs are reading difficult, and type seems to move (to swim). Faces sings are facial muscles feel stiff, and twitch. Stomach signs are gastric disturbance with sharp pains in the liver region. Female signs are severe bearing-down pains, especially after menopause. Respiratory signs are expectoration of little balls of mucus; cough ends in a sneeze. Heart signs are irregular, tumultuous palpitation. Back pain with sensitiveness of the spine to touch, twitching of cervical muscles. Extremity’s signs are itching of toes and feet as if frozen. Skin signs are burning, itching, redness, and swelling, as from Frostbites. Sleep signs are paroxysms of yawning, on falling asleep, starts twitches and awakes often.

Ambra Grisea (Ambr)

Ambra Grisea sleep remedy can choose if one has excitable, nervous children, thin, nervous patients, extreme nervous, and hyper-sensitiveness. Furthermore, for patients are weakening by age or overwork, anemic, and sleepless. Mind signs are music causes weeping. Head signs are tearing pain in upper half of the brain, and senile dizziness. Hearing Impaired. Stomach signs are distention of stomach and abdomen after midnight. Urinary signs are feeling in the urethra as if a few drops’ pass-out, urine turbid even during emission, form brown sediment. Female signs are itching of the pudendum with softness and swelling, discharge of blood between periods at every little accident. Respiratory signs are nervous, spasmodic cough with hoarseness and eructation, hollow spasmodic barking cough coming from deep in the chest. Heart signs are palpitation with pressure in the chest as from a lump lodged there, or as if chest obstructs. Sleep signs are cannot sleep from worry, must get up. Extremity’s signs are cramps in hands and fingers. Modalities – worsen by music, presence of strangers, from any unusual thing, morning, and warm room; better by slow motion in the open air, lying on painful part, cold drinks.

Avena Sativa (Aven)

Avena Sativa sleep remedy can choose if one is alcoholism, nervous exhaustion, sexual debility, sleeplessness, and especially of alcoholics or bad effects of morphine habit. Mind signs are inability to the keep mind on any one subject. Head signs are nervous headache, and nervous states of many female troubles.

Calcarea Carbonica (Calc)

Calcarea Carbonica sleep remedy can choose, if jaded (weary) stale (uninteresting from overuse) mental or physical due to overwork, abscesses (localized collection of pus) in deep muscles, polypi (a small vascular (vessels that conduct and circulate fluids) growth on the surface of a mucous membrane) and exostoses (a benign outgrowth from a bone, usually covered with cartilage). Mind signs are apprehensive, fears loss of reason, misfortune, forgetful. Head signs are icy coldness in & on the head, much perspiration, and wet the pillow. Eye signs are spots and ulcers on cornea, chronic dilatation of pupils. Ear signs are otorrhea (discharge from the external ear), and enlarged glands. Nose signs are nostril’s sore, ulcerated, and takes cold at every change of weather. Mouth signs are persistent sour taste, swelling of tonsils, goiter (abnormally enlarged thyroid gland; it can result from underproduction or overproduction of hormone). Stomach signs are craving for indigestible things (such as chalk, coal, and pencils), frequent sour eructation, sour vomiting, dislike of fat, loss of appetite when overworked, abdomen inguinal & mesenteric glands swollen, distention, and gall-stone colic. Male sign is frequent emissions. Female signs are the menses too; early, profuse, long with cold, damp feet. Respiratory signs are painless hoarseness, suffocating spells, worse going upstairs, chest very sensitive to touch, percussion, or pressure. Extremity’s signs are cold, damp feet, soles of feet raw. Sleep signs are same disagreeable idea always arouses from light slumber.

Camphora (Camph)

Camphora sleep remedy can choose if one has a cold, with chilliness and sneezing, characteristic of camphor that the patient will not cover. Head signs are fleeting stitches in temporal region and orbits, head sore, occipital throbbing synchronous with the pulse, nose cold and pinched; tongue cold, flabby, trembling. Male signs are desire increased, chordee (painful erection of the penis, usually with downward curvature), priapism (condition in which the penis is continually erecting), nightly emissions. Sleep signs are insomnia with cold limbs, subsultus and extreme restlessness.

Cannabis Indica (Cann-I)

Cannabis Indica sleep remedy can choose if one has a condition of intense exaltation, in which all perceptions and conceptions, all sensations and emotions are exaggerating to the utmost degree. Mind signs are very forgetful, cannot finish sentence, uncontrollable laughter, and sub-conscious (or dual nature state). Head signs are feeling as if the top of the head were opening and shutting, involuntary. Sleep signs are very sleepy, dreams of dead bodies, grinding of teeth in sleep.

Chloralum (Chlor)

Chloralum sleep remedy is the use in physiological doses, is a powerful hypnotic and cardiac depressant, emotional excitability, hallucinations, night terrors in children, and muscular prostration. Sleep signs are insomnia, hallucinations, horrid dreams, and somnolence.
Cocculus (Cocc)

Cocculus sleep remedy can choose if one has painful contracture of limbs & trunk, tetanus (rare but often-fatal disease that affects the central nervous system by causing painful muscular contractions), many of the evil effects of night watching are relieving by it. It shows a special attraction for light-haired females, especially during pregnancy, causing much nausea and backache. Mind signs are time passes too quickly, profound sadness, cannot bear contradiction. Head signs are vertigo, nausea, especially when riding or sitting up. Abdomen signs are distended with wind, feeling as if full of sharp stones when moving, pain in abdominal ring as if something is a force through, abdominal muscles weak; it seems as if a hernia. Extremity’s signs are paralytic pain in small of the back, pain in shoulder and arms as if bruised. Sleep signs are spasmodic yawning, coma vigil, constant drowsiness, after loss of sleep, night watching. Modalities – condition becomes better lying on one side or the other.

Coffea Cruda (Coff)

Coffea Cruda sleep remedy can choose if one has neuralgia in various parts, always with great nervous excitability and intolerance of pain, unusual activity of mind and body. Head signs are it seems as if brain were turning to pieces, as if a nail were driving into the head, sensitive hearing. Sleep signs are wakeful, on a constant move, sleeps until 3 AM after which only dozing, wakes with a start, sleep disturbed by dreams, sleepless on account of mental activity, flow of ideas with nervous excitability. Modalities – condition becomes worse in the open air.

Cypripedium (Cypr)

Cypripedium sleep remedy can choose if one has skin symptoms correspond to those of poisoning by Rhus, it is fine as an efficient antidote, nervousness in children from teething and intestinal troubles, debility after gout, hydrocephaloid symptoms result of long exhausting diarrhea, sleeplessness, cerebral hyperasthesia in young children often the result of over-stimulation of brain. Head signs are a child cries out at night, wakeful and begins to laugh and play headaches of elderly people and during a climacteric.

Daphne Indica (Daph) .

Daphne Indica sleep remedy can acts on lower tissues, muscles, bones and skin. There is a sudden, lightning jerks in different parts of the body, craving for tobacco, burning in stomach, parts of the body feel separated, fetid breath, and urine sweat. Head signs are feeling as if the skull would burst, as if the head were separate from body, heat in the head, especially in vertex, tongue coated on one side only. Urine signs are thick, turbid, yellowish, and like rotten eggs. Extremity’s signs are right toe swollen, painful, pain shoots upward into abdomen and heart, rheumatic pains in thighs, & knees; cold feeling on buttocks, and shooting pains shift rapidly. Modalities – condition becomes worse by cold air. Sleep signs are entire inability to sleep sometimes causes by aching in bones, dreams with nightmare, dreams of cats, starting on falling to sleep with chilliness and clamminess.

Gelsemium (Gels)

Gelsemium sleep remedy can choose if one has dizziness, drowsiness, dullness, trembling, and muscular weakness. Head signs are vertigo, pain in temple extending into the ear. Eye’s signs are ptosis, eyelids heavy, dim-sighted, orbital neuralgia, toith contraction & twitching of muscles, hysterical amblyopia. Mouth signs are trembling, post-diphtheritic paralysis, feeling of a lump in the throat, difficult swallowing, and pain from the throat to ear. Stool signs are diarrhea from emotional excitement. Heart signs are feeling as if it was necessary to keep in motion (or else heart's action would cease), weak slow pulse of old age. Sleep signs are cannot get fully to sleep, delirious on falling asleep, insomnia from exhaustion and from uncontrollable thinking, yawning.

Ignatia (Ign)

Ignatia sleep remedy can choose if you have, mental and emotional element is the uppermost, & interference of co-ordination function. It is especially adapted to the nervous temperament, women of sensitive, easily excited nature, dark colored, mild disposition, quick to perceive, and rapid in execution. Head signs feel hollow, heavy, and worse from stooping. Stomach signs are sour eructation, much flatulence, sinking in the stomach, relieved by taking a deep breath. Sleep signs are very light, jerking of limbs on going to sleep, insomnia from grief, cares, with itching of arms and violent yawning, dreams continuing a long time. Modalities – worse in the morning, open air, after meals, coffee, smoking, liquids, external warmth; better while eating, change of position.

Lecithinum (Lec)

Lecithinum sleep remedy can choose if one has been increasing number of red corpuscles and amount of hemoglobin. Lecithin has a favorable influence upon the nutritive condition and especially upon the blood, hence its use in anemia and convalescence, neurasthenia and insomnia. Always tired, weak, short breath, flesh loss, symptoms of general breakdown, and sexually weak. Mind signs are forgetful, dull, and confused.

Passiflora Incarnata (Passi)

Passiflora Incarnata sleep remedy is an efficient anti-spasmodic, suitable for whooping cough, morphine habit, delirium tremens, convulsions in children, neuralgia, atonic (exhibiting a lack of muscle tone) condition generally present. This remedy has a quieting effect on the nervous system and produces normal sleep. It is suitable for neuroses of children, hysteria, worm-fever (worm affections with or without fever), teething, spasms, and tetanus. Stomach signs are painful diarrhea. Respiration signs are asthma, nocturnal cough. Head signs are violent ache as if the top of the head would come off- eyes felt as if pushed out. Stomach signs are leaden, dead feeling after or between meals, flatulence, and sour eructation. Sleep signs are restless, wakeful resulting from exhaustion (especially in the feeble, infants and the aged), insomnia of infants (aged, mentally worried, and overworked) with a tendency to convulsions.

Sumbulus (Sumb)

Sumbulus sleep remedy can choose if one has many hysterical, nervous symptoms: this remedy is useful for neuralgic affections, anomalous, and cardiac disorders. Numbness is due to cold, numbness on left side, and insomnia of delirium tremens (fifteen drops of tincture). There is a sensation as if water drops down spine, asthma, and tissue remedy for sclerosed arteries. Head signs are emotional & fidgety, dull in morning, clear in evening, tenacious (fixed point of view), and mistakes in writing. Respiration signs are yellow mucus in nose, throat-choking constriction, constant swallowing, a spasm of pharyngeal muscles, and tenacious mucus in the throat. Stomach signs are belching of gas. Heart signs are nervous palpitation, neuralgia around left breast and left hypochondriac region, cardiac asthma, aching in the left arm, heavy, numb, weary, and loses breath on any exertion. Pulse Female signs are ovarian neuralgia, abdomen full, distended, and painful. Urinary signs are oily pellicle on the surface of urine. Modalities – worsen symptoms with active exercise and left side.

Xanthoxylum (Xan)

Xanthoxylum sleep remedy can choose if one has paralysis, especially hemiplegia, painful haemorrhages, after-pains, neuralgic dysmenorrhea, and rheumatic affections. Mind signs are nervous, frightened, and mental depression. Stomach signs are abdomen griping, diarrhea, and dysentery with tympanites. Female signs are menses too early and painful, and pain in back and down legs. Sleep signs are hard, un-refreshing, dreams of flying, and sleeplessness in neurasthenics.

Herbs for Insomnia

The following herbs can be used during the day, or try using 20-30 minutes before bedtime. But doses are on the experience basis.

Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis): Chamomile is a time-honored sedative herb which can be safely used by children and adults alike. Chamomile tea is commonly used in Europe, South America, and Mexico for insomnia and restlessness combined with irritability, particularly in children. Chamomile oil can also be put in bath water (5-6 drops) to soothe overwrought nerves, diluted to 2% to make an excellent massage oil, or used as an inhalant.

• Dose: Tea, 1 cup 2-3 x daily; Tincture, 30 drops 3 x daily.

Hops (Humulus lupulus): In the early 1900s, Eclectic physicians used hops as a sedative specifically for insomnia due to worry or nerve weakness (Bell, 1925; Ellingwood, 1983). Hops, a major flavoring component of beer, has a long history of use for sleeplessness, nervousness, and restlessness. Hops pillows are sometimes used for mild insomnia.

• Dose: Tea, 1 cup 2-3 x daily; Tincture, 30-40 drops 2-3 x daily.

Lavender (Lavandula officinalis): Lavender is a gentle strengthening tonic for the nervous system. A few drops of lavender oil added to a bath before bedtime are recommended for persons with sleep disorders. Additionally, the oil may be used as a compress or massage oil or simply inhaled to alleviate insomnia.

• Dose: Tea, 1 cup 2-3 x daily; Essential oil--oil may be inhaled, massaged into the skin (use 10 drops essential oil per ounce of vegetable oil), or added to baths (3-10 drops).

Passion flower (Passiflora incarnata): Herbalists consider passion flower an important herb for insomnia caused by mental worry, overwork, or nervous exhaustion. In England it is an ingredient in forty different commonly-sold sedative preparations. Passion flower is used for minor sleep problems in both children and adults (Bruneton, 1995). It is an excellent sedative with no side effects even when used in large doses (Spaick, 1978).

• Dose: Tea, 1 cup 3 x daily; Tincture, 30-60 drops 3-4 x daily.

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis): In the United States, herbalists use valerian extensively for its sedative action against insomnia, nervousness, and restlessness. It is recommended for those type of people who have a hard time falling asleep, because it shortens sleep latency. It also reduces nighttime waking. Valerian is an excellent herbal sedative that has none of the negative side effects of Valium and other synthetic sedatives. It works well in combination with other sedative herbs, such as California poppy, skullcap, hops, and passion flower.

• Dose: Tea, 1 cup as needed; Tincture, 2-5 droppersful 2-3 x daily.

Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa): Wild lettuce is a mild sedative and nervine used for restlessness and insomnia. It may be found in a variety of formulas for the treatment of acute and chronic insomnia. It is used homeopathically for restlessness and insomnia (Boericke, 1927). Because of its safety of use and calming effects, wild lettuce is a good children's remedy.

• Dose: Tincture, 2-3 drpfls 3-4 x daily.

California poppy (Eschscholzia californica): California poppy is my favorite sedative and sleep-promoting herb which can currently be found in a variety of herbal remedies sold in the United States for promoting sleep, helping one to relax, and easing mild anxiety. Because of its mild sedative and analgesic properties, it can be given safely to children. Clinical and laboratory work on California poppy has clearly demonstrated the plant's sedative and anti-anxiety properties; it has been shown to improve both sleep latency and quality (Bruneton, 1995).

• Dose: Tea, 1 cup 2-3 x daily; Tincture, 30-40 drops 2-3 x daily.
• Note: Since the tea is mild, a tincture is recommended when a stronger dose is desired.

Kava kava (Piper methysticum): Kava is the national drink of Fiji and is popular throughout the South Seas. It imparts a calm feeling, relaxes the body, and sometimes enhances communication and dreaming. This sedative herb is often used for sleeplessness and fatigue.

• Dose: Tea, 1 cup 2-3 x daily; Tincture, 3-4 droppersful 2-3 x daily.

Following  some simple sleep hygiene measures will help promote a restful sleep:

·         Establish a regular schedule for going to bed and getting up. Avoid daytime naps.

·         Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine late in the day as they are stimulants and can keep you from falling asleep. Alcohol may help sleep onset, but cause early morning wakefulness.

·         Avoid vigorous exercise within 3 to 4 hours of bedtime because it may stimulate you and make it hard to fall asleep. Taking a mild walk or performing yoga before going to bed might help.

·         Avoid heavy meals close to bedtime. However, a light snack at bedtime may promote sleep.

·         Keep the bedroom at a comfortable temperature and minimize light and noise.

·         Follow a routine to help relax before sleep, such as reading a book, listening to music, or taking a warm bath.

·         Drink a warm cup of milk before going to bed. Milk contains an amino acid that boosts serotonin in the brain, and enhances sleep.

·         Don’t use your bedroom as a place to work.

·         Relaxation techniques, meditation and sexual intercourse have a relaxing effect for many people.

Adequate sleep is essential to health and peak performance as much as exercise and good nutrition. Hence, to get relieve from sleeplessness and to promote a restful sleep with the help of a safe, natural, effective.

Sleep problems & Homoeopathic Treatment

Sleep problems & Homoeopathic Treatment to protect  so many diseases


Insomnia  and sleep apnea are turning us into major health service consumers, causing us to be less productive at work, and may even lead to serious accidents.

If you can’t sleep at night, you’re not alone. Around ten per cent of the population suffer from insomnia, where you have trouble falling asleep, wake up frequently at night, and still feel tired when the morning comes. When you feel tired and indisposed, your performance at work suffers.

Sleep apnea is a more severe problem, affecting four to five per cent of the population. Sufferers can stop breathing for up to 40 seconds several times during the night, putting a huge strain on the heart. As a result, they have many micro-awakenings that stop them from reaching deep sleep.

Bad night, bad day

According to the sleep scientist, a recently-published study from the United States puts the annual losses from insomnia alone at 63.2 billion US dollars annually. Only a third of this was due to actual absence from work; two thirds was due to a loss in productivity while at work.

An study found that about two per cent of  GDP is lost due to sick leave caused by insomnia and sleep apnea disorder. This shows how common these diseases are and how much they affect work.

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Danger on the roads

In their own ways, each sleep disorder also has a strong impact on accident statistics.

For example, lorry drivers have sedentary jobs, and this increases the risk of developing obesity and sleep apnea.

The disease is a major cause of the many traffic accidents on roads. As for insomnia, drug use can cause problems. Sedatives can cause users to feel less rested during the daytime. Sleep medication may work in the short term, but after six weeks of use we noticed a decrease in deep sleep. Sleep may be uninterrupted, but you may not necessarily get quality sleep.

Testing every treatment there is

Sleep disorder sufferers are often major health care users, which leads to an increase in social costs. When you feel bad, you will try every treatment there is. There is an over consumption of alternative methods amongst insomnia sufferers. They often consume too much alcohol and visit their GPs, psychologists, physiotherapists, and chiropractors more often. Insomnia treatment to become more accessible, and to include cognitive behavioural therapy.

Several recent studies show that the Internet can be used to offer good and cost-effective methods of treatment. This is particularly true in areas where sleep centres are few and far between.

Sleepless nights up diabetes risk

Poor sleep may not only leave you drowsy, it might also raise your odds for a precursor condition to diabetes, according to a small new study that looks at how fat cells respond to sleepless nights.

"It's always been thought that the primary function of sleep was for the brain, but in addition to the brain, your fat cells also need sleep. Too little sleep makes you groggy, and the same thing happens on a metabolic level. Cells don't behave as they normally would, and this can lead to insulin resistance".

Problems with a lack of sleep

Other recent research has suggested that a lack of sleep can lead to a variety of problems, such as insulin resistance, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure, according to background information in the study. What hasn't been clear, though, is why too little shuteye is linked to these conditions.
"This is the first time that sleep has been studied at the cellular level".

For the current study, the researchers recruited seven healthy, normal-weight young adults whose average age was just under 24 years.

How the study was done

The study volunteers were randomly assigned to spend four nights simulating sufficient sleep by sleeping 8.5 hours and four nights simulating sleep deprivation by sleeping just 4.5 hours a night. The four-night stretches of sleep simulations were spaced four weeks apart. The study took place in a sleep lab.

After each four-day simulation, the researchers measured how well each person processed glucose (sugar), and they took samples of fat cells from each person's abdomen.The investigators found that in people who were sleep deprived, the fat cells' ability to respond to insulin -- a hormone that helps the body metabolise carbohydrates - was reduced by 30%. And, insulin levels were almost three times higher than in the well-rested study participants. High insulin levels tend to indicate that something isn't working properly in the metabolic system, and insulin resistance is occurring. To try to compensate, the pancreas makes more insulin. If this cycle continues for too long, type 2 diabetes can develop.

"Sleep is incredibly important, not only for cognitive (brain) function, but also for your metabolic health".The researchers are currently recruiting for a trial of overweight people with sleep apnea to see if treating the sleep apnea has an effect on the body's metabolism. So much of the population is sleep deprived, and sleep has been implicated in a lot of abnormal bodily functions. This study sets the stage for a better understanding about what we should be telling patients about sleep. Sleep may be another important lifestyle modification that people need to make."

Sleep and metabolic syndrome

This was an interesting study that sheds light on how a lack of sleep can contribute to the metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is the name given to a cluster of risk factors that together increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
"If you're not sleeping enough, you need to know that it's impacting you on a cellular level," and , if you're already overweight, a lack of sleep can put you at risk of further complications, such as sleep apnea, which in turn, leads to less sleep.
"A lack of sleep can really set up a vicious cycle. Sleep should be considered as important as diet when you're trying to prevent weight gain and diabetes. Just because society isn't sleeping as much as necessary doesn't mean you shouldn't try".While the study found an association between reduced sleep and insulin resistance, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Adequate sleep is an important part of a weight loss plan and should be added to the recommended mix of diet and exercise, there is significant evidence that inadequate sleep is contributing to obesity. Lack of sleep increases the stimulus to consume more food and increases appetite-regulating hormones.

Sleep should be part of weight-loss plan

"The solution (to weight loss) is not as simple as 'eat less, move more, sleep more,'.However, an accumulating body of evidence suggests that sleeping habits should not be overlooked when prescribing a weight-reduction program to a patient with obesity. Sleep should be included as part of the lifestyle package that traditionally has focused on diet and physical activity."The  total sleep time and quality of sleep predicted the loss of fat in people enrolled in a weight loss program.

Fully half of the 400 women given overnight sleep tests in a new Swedish study turned out to have mild-to-severe sleep apnoea. In the random population sample of adult women who answered a questionnaire and were monitored while sleeping, half experienced at least five apnoea-hypopnoea episodes per hour (i.e., periods when they stopped breathing for longer than 10 seconds), the minimum definition of sleep apnoea.
Among women with hypertension or obesity the proportion was even higher, reaching 80% to 84%. Many of the women in the study had mild cases of sleep apnoea.
"How important is the mild sleep apnoea, we don't know. "We see that it doesn't go away and it gets worse."

Sleep apnoea complications

One recent study found that women who have sleep apnoea are more likely to develop memory problems and dementia.Selected 400 women between the ages of 20 and 70 from a larger population sample of 10 000, and asked them to sleep overnight at home, wearing sensors that measured heart rate, eye and leg movements, blood oxygen levels, air flow and brain waves. Among women aged 20-44, one quarter had sleep apnoea, compared to 56% of women aged 45-54 and 75% of women aged 55-70.

No more excluding women  

Severe sleep apnoea, involves more than 30 apnoea-hypopnoea episodes per hour, was far less common, occurring in 4.6% of women 45-54 and 14% of women 55-70.
Rates of severe sleep apnoea were 14% in women of all ages with hypertension and 19% in women who were obese.If physicians are looking for sleep apnoea among women, examining those who are obese, over 55 or have hypertension is a good place to start. Sleep apnoea is often thought of as a condition of men, but identifying women with it is especially beneficial, because her research has shown that women are more likely to comply with treatment.

When children can get just a little more sleep each night, their school behaviour and alertness levels improve, new research suggests. "Even small changes in daily life that can allow children to add about a half hour of sleep could have a significant impact.

How the study was done

For the research, randomly assigned 34 children, aged seven to 11, to one of two groups. One group had their sleep restricted, with bedtimes moved back so they lost an hour of sleep, for five nights straight.The other group had their bedtimes moved up, so they gained an hour of sleep time for five consecutive nights. In all, 33 children finished the study. The children wore wrist-watch like devices, called actigraphs, to record their sleep. The sleep-extension group slept on average just 27 additional minutes a night. Those in the restricted group slept, on average, 54 minutes less a night.

What the study found

At the study start, both groups slept, on average, about nine hours. Children in this age group should sleep 10 or 11 hours, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
Teachers rated the children on standard measures of behaviour, such as impulsivity, restlessness and emotional ability. They also noted daytime sleepiness.
Those in the extra sleep group did better, showing improvement in alertness, behaviour and emotions, the researchers found. Those in the restricted group had declining scores on alertness.He has studied inadequate sleep and its effects on teen behavior. He cautioned parents, however, that the extra sleep can't be just for one night but should be a long-term change if their children are not sleeping enough.

"It's a lifestyle thing, not a quick one-night (change)".

He pointed out that even though the children in the study, on average, were getting a fair amount of sleep - nine hours or so - they still did better when they got more sleep.

Why children are sleep deprived

Study author Gruber said that children may be sleep-deprived for a number of reasons. They can get involved in electronic media past bedtime, including playing video games, watching television, texting or talking to friends.

Parents may also encourage too much activity at night, When children are too busy with schoolwork and extracurricular activities, it often delays bedtimes, Set and keep a consistent bedtime.Don't allow electronics in the bedroom. Be sure the bedroom environment is comfortable, she said.

Beebe had some advice as well.

He told parents to remember that they still have control over household activity. Beebe promotes a pre-bedtime wind-down, starting a half-hour to an hour before the set bedtime. "Take the tempo down," he said. Instruct the kids to use the time to shower or bathe, read a book or otherwise relax.

The World Health Organisation recently recognised environmental noise as harmful pollution, with adverse psychosocial and physiological effects on public health. A new study of noise pollution in Fulton County, Georgia, suggests that many residents are exposed to high noise levels that put them at risk of annoyance or sleep disturbance, which can have serious health consequences"Long-term exposure to noise could increase the risks of heart attack and high blood pressure. Nighttime noise can reduce sleep quality and increase morning tiredness and insomnia".

How the study was done

Fulton County, Georgia is a highly urbanizes area incorporating the city of Atlanta and surrounding communities. Interstate Highway 285 runs around the heart of the county, and the area inside 285 has a complex high-density road network. Investigators collected a number of data sets to estimate road traffic noise exposure levels, including topographical information, vehicle volume and speed, and the mix of vehicle types.

They calculated metrics to indicate the probability that certain percentages of the population, exposed to certain levels of road traffic noise, would be highly annoyed or have high levels of sleep disturbance, at a given point.These cities also have the highest populations in the county. In terms of prevalence, the smaller city of College Park was the city most negatively impacted, with 11.3% of its daytime population and 3.7% of its nighttime population estimated to be at risk for experiencing annoyance or sleep disturbance. Most of the people affected appeared inside the I-285 corridor and contributed 68% and 64%, respectively, to the populations estimated to be at risk of experiencing high levels of annoyance and sleep disturbance.
In a US Census Bureau survey, the city of Atlanta had the lowest percentage of households among 38 metropolitan areas reporting the presence of road traffic noise. "Adequate restful sleep and mental well-being are as essential to good health as adequate nutrition and physical activity. Assessing and alleviating environmental noise is an essential element for improving or creating healthy communities where adults and children can play, work, and live."

Sleep apnoea linked with increased risk of cancer death

The research evidence presented earlier this year highlighting a link between severe sleep apnoea and cancer. Show evidence suggesting an increase in cancer incidence among sleep apnoea patients and an association between the spread of cancer and sleep apnoea.

How the study was done

In the first study, over 5 600 patients from 7 different sleep clinics in Spain were analysed to investigate the link between sleep apnoea and cancer mortality.
The severity of sleep apnoea, was then measured, using an hypoxaemia index. This index measures the amount of time during the night that a person suffers from low levels of oxygen in the blood (less than 90% oxygen saturation).
The results showed that people with sleep apnoea who spent more than 14% of their sleep with levels of oxygen saturation below 90% (usually severe sleep apnoea patients) had approximately double the relative risk of death due to cancer (odds ratio 1.94), than people without sleep apnoea. The results showed that this association was even higher in men and younger people.

People with sleep apnoea can be treated using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, which generates a stream of air to keep the upper airways open during sleep. In the first study, patients who were not using this device consistently had an increased relative risk (odds ratio 2.56) of death from cancer.
“We found a significant increase in the relative risk of dying from cancer in people with sleep apnoea. This adds to evidence presented earlier this year that found for the first time a link between cancer and sleep apnoea mortality. Our research has only found an association between these disorders but this does not mean that sleep apnoea causes cancer.

Similar results were also found in the second study which showed an increase in all-type cancer incidence in people with severe sleep apnoea. The link was present even when factors such as age, sex, weight and other comorbidities of participants, were controlled. “Further studies are necessary to corroborate our results and analyse the role of CPAP treatment on this association. We hope the findings of our studies will encourage people to get their sleep apnoea diagnosed and treated early to help maintain a good quality of life.”

In a third study, researchers used a mouse model of skin cancer (melanoma) to investigate tumour spread (metastasis) and whether this was associated with sleep apnoea. The results showed that the spread of cancer was more abundant in mice that had been subjected to intermittent hypoxic air, with low levels of oxygen as in sleep apnoea, than those who breathed normal air during the experiment.
“The data from this study in animals strongly suggests a link between the spread of cancer and sleep apnoea. This provides strong evidence to encourage further study in this area to understand in more detail the links between sleep apnoea and cancer.”

                       Listed below are some common homeopathic remedies that may be useful for sleep disorders.

Arnica

Good for physical overwork and when the bed feels too hard and uncomfortable. This remedy is also useful for jet lag.

Aconite

Used for acute insomnia caused by shock, fright, bad news, or grief. Also for fear, anxiety, and restlessness. May be woken by nightmares.

Arsenicum album

When you feel sleepy during the day but anxious at night. Restless in bed with anxious dreams and nightmares. Also for warmth, warm drinks, moving about, and sleeping propped up in bed.

Calcerea phosphorica

Difficulty waking and getting up in the morning, waking up before midnight. Painful teething in restless babies. Anxious, irritable, sluggish, and restless. Dislikes routine. Babies who scream in their steep and need lots of attention

Causticum

Bedwetting in the early part of the night. Over-sensitive child easily upset and tearful. Afraid of the dark. Strong sense of justice.

Chamomilla

Irritable baby who refuses to be calmed. Sleeplessness caused by teething, anger, or Colic. Moaning when asleep, eyes are half open when asleep. 

For the person who exhibits irritability, peevishness, and restlessness. It is an antidote for overuse of coffee. Exhibits sleeplessness and restlessness during the first part of the night. They have frightening dreams.

Cocculus

If exhaustion is related to changing work shifts or too many nights of staying awake, as when caring for a sick person. For overtiredness and exhaustion, use 12X.

Coffea

Coffea, the homeopathic remedy made from the coffee bean, is very useful in cases of sleeplessness when the mind is awake and working. Shows inability to relax due to the overexcitement caused by good news or ideas. Vivid dreams, overactive mind, overexcitement. The thoughts are not fixed on a disappointment, but nevertheless the nervous system seems to be overexcited, as if from drinking too much coffee. Take 3X to 200X for insomnia following too much coffee drinking.

Equisetum

Wetting the bed during dreams. Nervous-system immaturity.

Ignatia

Sleeplessness caused by shock, emotional stress, or grief, where the person has become overwrought and moody, with frequent yawning or sighing. Jerks limbs when falling asleep. Mood swings, no thirst, dreams with bottled up anger and tension.

Kali phos

Right terrors, or waking with a sinking feeling in the stomach. Caused by excitement or mental strain. Also for anxiety, irritability, and muscle fatigue Exhausted by stress or overwork.

Lachesis

Sleep problems during the menopause. Sensation of suffocation at the throat or bed swaying as you go to steep. Dread of going to bed because of sudden awakenings and the sensation of swaying. Tendency to hold breath white fatting asleep. Night sweats. Waking anxious and feeling unwell. 

Muriaticum acidum

Generally used for emotional problems.

Nux vomica

Excellent for the person who is irritable and sleepless from stopping sedatives, or from too much mental stress, alcohol or food. For alcohol, overeating especially spicy, foods, noise, lack of steep. The sleeplessness typically occurs after waking up very early in the morning. The person cannot get back to sleep until just before the alarm goes off, and then gets up irritable and angry from lack of sleep.

For wakefulness in the middle of the night, use 6X to 12X.

Opium

If the person is feeling sleepy but unable to get to sleep, if the bed is too hot, or else sleep comes but it is so heavy that the person snores and cannot be roused.

Pulsatilla

Early waking with an overactive mind and/or recurrent thoughts. For anxious or vivid dreams, night sweats. Person is restless in first sleep, feels too hot and throws covers off, then feels too cold and lies with arms above head, not thirsty, or if the insomnia is worse after rich food. 

Sepia

Difficulty falling asleep. Waking early feeling unrefreshed. Exhausted and depressed by over work and mental stress. Feels irritable and sleepy during the day. Suffers headaches, nausea and dizziness due to tiredness. Night sweats.

Sulphur

Awakened by the slightest noise and finds it difficult to get back to steep. Feels hot and thrusts limbs out from under the covers. Kept awake by a continuous flow of ideas. Vivid nightmares, disturbed and unrefreshing sleep, waking in the early hours then steeping late.

Thuja

Wakes up early and unrefreshed just before time to get up. Pain where you have been lying, feeling cold, sleep-talking, anxious dreams, stress headaches.

Senecio:-

 For sleeplessness from prolapse of uterus. Uterine irritation during climacteric.

Cypripedium:- 

When patient is unable to sleep due to the overcrowding of the brain with all kinds of pleasant ideas. Little babies often wake up and play the whole night to the annoyance of their parents.

Mag Carb:-

 Sleeplessness from oppression in abdomen or from anxious uneasiness and internal fear, with a great dread of being uncovered. Sleeplessness from flatus.

Kali Phos:- 

Sleepless after worry, excitement or from nervous causes. Constant dreaming of fire, robbers, ghosts, falling. Twitching of mulscles on falling asleep. Awakens with a fright.

Muriatic Acid:- 

Sleepy, but unable to sleep; tosses about; dreamy and restless all through the night. Irritable.

Ferrum Met:- Can sleep only by change of position of the bed with head to the North.