What is causing this condition in so many people and what effect does it have on them? In order to understand this, we have published articles on insomnia causes, the relationship between menopause and insomnia, terminal insomnia, and heart disease risk related to insomnia. We have also published a feature on how insomnia-related stress can be dealt with.
Insomnia causes, symptoms, and natural remedies to sleep well without sleeping pills
What is insomnia? Well, if you’re one of the many Americans who can’t sleep at night and find yourself unable to stay asleep or have trouble falling asleep, that is a good indication you may have insomnia. A good night’s sleep is nature’s best medicine. But unfortunately, many Americans find it difficult to get their six to eight hours of shut-eye. The problem with sleeplessness is that it gets worse as one grows older.
There are many reasons why this happens, so it is a good idea to get an understanding of the causes of insomnia and the symptoms of insomnia, before we discuss natural sleep remedies and tips for better sleep.
Causes of insomnia
While there are many reasons why a person can’t fall asleep, scientists have zeroed-in on three main causes of sleep loss:
• Your internal sleep clock is broken!
In the good old days, when the sun went down most people went to sleep. But because of the easy access to the entertainment industry via television and computers, our natural sleep cycles have been interrupted, and our body’s internal sleep clock is broken. Continue reading…
Menopause sleep problems or menopause and insomnia often go hand in hand. This major change in a woman’s life is marred by several hormonal, physical, and emotional changes that often affect the amount of sleep a woman gets, as well as sleep quality.
The technical diagnosis of menopause is defined as a full year passing since a woman’s last menstrual period. The periods before and after this period are referred to as perimenopause and post-menopause, respectively. It is during perimenopause that a woman’s ovaries begin to underproduce several key hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone, causing many of the symptoms seen in menopausal women.
How is insomnia linked to menopause?
Generally, insomnia is experiencing a sense of sleeplessness, with it being very difficult to initiate falling asleep
from the beginning. A lack of sleep during menopause is quite common, as approximately 61 percent of women who are post-menopausal frequently experience episodes of insomnia.
There are several reasons why a person may suffer from insomnia, with psychological factors also playing an important role. However, menopausal women battle several additional sleep-disrupting symptoms, such as hot flashes due to hormonal fluctuations. Additional causes leading to insomnia may also include.Continue reading…
Terminal insomnia is a condition where you can fall asleep easily when going to bed, but find yourself waking up much earlier than you want and are unable to fall back asleep. A precise terminal insomnia definition would be when early awakening occurs for three nights or more, waking up more than 30 minutes too early. Terminal insomnia is also sometimes referred to as “end of night” insomnia.
It is important to note that this condition also applies to those who wake up much earlier than they intended, regardless if you are using this extra time to simply lay in bed rather than getting up.
What causes terminal insomnia?
Generally, insomnia is experiencing a sense of sleeplessness, with it being very difficult to initiate falling asleep from the beginning. Terminal insomnia patients do not have this problem. Instead, their sleep pattern is disturbed but they can fall asleep. Their brains think they have received an adequate amount of sleep required and wake them up much earlier than normal. Continue reading…
Lying awake in bed and not being able to fall asleep is a relatively common occurrence for most people, especially those with insomnia. Insomnia is something people don’t give much attention to, but according to a new study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, it is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
We spend nearly a third of our lives sleeping, which speaks to the importance of it. In this modern technological world, there are many distractions and stimulants that are designed to keep us awake. It’s reported that approximately one-third of the general population of Germany suffer from insomnia symptoms, according to study author Qiao He of the China Medical University.
“Researchers have found associations between insomnia and poor health outcomes,” continued Qiao He. “But the links between insomnia and heart disease or stroke have been inconsistent.”
The authors of the study analyzed 15 prospective cohort studies with a total of 160,867 participants and observed 11,702 adverse events during a median follow-up of three to 29.6 years. Continue reading…
It is estimated that nearly 50 percent of insomnia cases are a result of stress; however, sleep experts have compiled a list of tips you can use to reduce stress and improve your sleep. If you find yourself tossing and turning at night, unable to sleep because of stress, these tips should help you get back to having a sound sleep night after night.
- Setting an alarm is a helpful trick to make sure you don’t wake up late, but it’s also beneficial if you turn the clock around so you aren’t checking the time throughout the night.
- Try breathing techniques as a means of reducing anxiety. Use your “out” breath to release anxiety and tension and imagine with each breath that stress is leaving your body.
- Now that you’re a bit calmer, try meditation. Count your in and out breaths: for example, 1-2 in, 3-4 out, 5-6 in, and so on. Don’t worry if you lose count—you can simply start back from one again.
- If your room is quiet, you can try meditating by listening to the sounds outside of your room. Continue reading…
Insomnia is not just a single sleepless night. It is a condition that can have serious implications and may result in complications leading to increased heart disease risk and even stroke. This is particularly true when the cause of insomnia is stress or anxiety. Since insomnia is linked with menopause, usually more women than men suffer from this condition. Therefore, sleeplessness should not be brushed off as an insignificant problem.