Are you getting the right kind of sleep?

Are you getting the right kind of sleep?. It's an epidemic that affects five million people. It will leave you feeling irritable and is likely to impair your life, but there is still little research into the causes of insomnia.

Surveys estimate that over a third of adults will suffer from insomnia during the course of a year.

Most people need between six and eight hours sleep a night. Everyone knows of people who cope with less but they are the exception.

Most healthy people require at least five hours of so called core sleep and failure to get this can lead to irritability, loss of concentration and impaired performance.

Insomnia is not defined by the number of hours of sleep but by the quality of sleep.

Symptoms include: difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently and not being able to return to sleep, waking up too early in the morning and experiencing unrefreshing sleep.

Insomnia is classified in three categories:

• transient where it is short term and lasts from a single night to a few weeks.

• intermittent where it reoccurs from time to time.

• chronic where it is constant and occurs on most nights and lasts a month or more.

What causes it?

Women, and those with a history of depression, as well as the elderly are more likely to be insomniacs. You're also more likely to be affected if you suffer from stress, anxiety, or a medical problem such as arthritis or asthma.

In some women pre-menstrual tension can worsen sleep quality and many pregnant women also experience sleep disturbance.

Other contributory factors can be smoking, drinking or taking caffeinated drinks such as tea or coffee. Stopping or altering this type of behaviour may eliminate the insomnia altogether.

How is it diagnosed?

Patients with insomnia are evaluated with the help of a medical and sleep history. If you are encountering sleep problems you should visit your GP. Specialised sleep studies may be recommended.

How is it treated?

Transient and intermittent insomnia may not require treatment and short-acting sleeping pills may improve sleep but for chronic insomnia you will probably be referred to a sleep unit for observation.

The Americans take the problem of sleep deprivation a lot more seriously than we do. They realise it equates with good health, safety and optimum performance in the work place.

A recent poll by the National Sleep Foundation revealed that a majority of American adults (63 per cent) do not get the recommended eight hours of sleep.

• Nearly one-third (31 per cent) report sleeping less than seven hours each week night.

• The average woman sleeps six hours and forty-one minutes during the working week and seven hours and sixteen minutes on the weekends

• 79 per cent of women said that their sleep is more disturbed during pregnancy and that most women get less sleep than they need.

• 31 per cent of women report that their sleep problems frequently interfered with their daily activities during the past month.

Martin King, the head of scientific and technical services at Papworth hospital sleep laboratory in Cambridge says that insomnia in the elderly is often linked to them leading a relatively inactive lifestyle or sleeping more during the day.

In the US it is one of the biggest single reasons given for putting the elderly into nursing homes because they are so disruptive when unable to sleep and wake other relatives.

Sleep research is still a relatively underfunded subject in the UK and research is ongoing. One of the main causes of insomnia is thought to be depression, said Mr King.

'People who are quite calm and relaxed while watching TV will become anxious as soon as they prepare to sleep and this will cause their brain to become active.

'In the short-term there are lots of things you can do to try and help yourself. Try and adopt a good routine, and keep a sleep diary to see if you can find out what the root of the problem is.

'Often it might be as simple as changing an area of your lifestyle, or removing bad habits.' ( dailymail.co.uk )