Insomnia

FDA has safety concerns on Merck insomnia drug

Federal health regulators say an experimental insomnia drug from Merck can help patients fall asleep, but it also carries worrisome side effects, including daytime drowsiness and suicidal thinking.

Medications created 19 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

FDA: lower ambien's dose to prevent drowsy driving

(HealthDay)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved new, lower-dose labeling for the popular sleep drug Ambien (zolpidem) in an effort to cut down on daytime drowsiness that could be a hazard ...

Medications created May 15, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

More sleep may decrease the risk of suicide in people with insomnia

A new study found a relationship between sleep duration and suicidal thoughts in people with insomnia.

Health created May 15, 2013 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Getting a grip on sleep

All mammals sleep, as do birds and some insects. However, how this basic function is regulated by the brain remains unclear. According to a new study by researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, ...

Neuroscience created May 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 2

Routine screening for depression not recommended for adults with no apparent symptoms of depression

For adults with no apparent symptoms of depression, routine screening is not recommended in primary care settings because of the lack of high-quality evidence on the benefits and harms of screening for depression, according ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 13, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Future hospitalization and increased health service use may be linked to insomnia

Having trouble falling or staying asleep? According to a new study led by a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, insomnia may be an important indicator of future hospitalization among ...

Health created May 10, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Do insomnia and disrupted sleep during menopause increase a woman's risk of heart disease?

Insomnia and other sleep disturbances are common among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women and may increase their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Evidence that a ...

Health created May 09, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Restless legs syndrome, insomnia and brain chemistry: A tangled mystery solved?

Johns Hopkins researchers believe they may have discovered an explanation for the sleepless nights associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS), a symptom that persists even when the disruptive, overwhelming nocturnal urge ...

Neuroscience created May 07, 2013 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Losing sleep? Scientists evaluate why

The issue of sleep deprivation has gone beyond the counting of sheep and into the scientific domain, as European researchers set up 'sleep labs' to study the biomedical and sociological factors keeping us ...

Health created May 03, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

ER visits tied to ambien on the rise

(HealthDay)—There has been a dramatic increase in the number of emergency-room visits related to sleep medications such as Ambien, according to a new U.S. study.

Medications created May 01, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Doc describes medical tent experience of Boston marathon

(HealthDay)—The experience of a physician in the medical tent at the Boston marathon provides insight into the impact of the bombings on medical professionals at the scene; the perspective piece was published ...

Health created Apr 24, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Two days of staging as effective as four for high-altitude climbs

Afghanistan's geography is dominated by a collection of craggy peaks, the highest—a mountain known as Noshaq—has been measured to 7,492 meters. Consequently, the soldiers on duty in this mountainous terrain must often ...

Health created Apr 21, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Should doctors be involved in the concealed-weapons permit process?

In the wake of recent mass shootings such as the one in Newtown, Conn., physicians are increasingly being called on to pass judgment in the permitting process on whether their patient is physically and mentally competent ...

Health created Apr 18, 2013 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Filmmaker David Lynch touts meditation for PTSD

Veteran filmmaker David Lynch says US authorities should use more transcendental meditation to help soldiers returning from Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Apr 12, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

High-dose opioids disturb hormones long-term, but mental and physiologic function improves

Half of patients on high-dose, long-term opioid therapy had hormonal disturbances or signs of inflammation, while 100 percent reported improved pain control and mental outlook, new research shows. The results, reported today ...

Medications created Apr 11, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Insomnia (or sleeplessness) is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions: "Do you experience difficulty sleeping?" or "Do you have difficulty falling or staying asleep?"

Thus, insomnia is most often thought of as both a sign and a symptom that can accompany several sleep, medical, and psychiatric disorders, characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep or sleep of poor quality. Insomnia is typically followed by functional impairment while awake. One definition of insomnia is difficulties initiating and/or maintaining sleep, or nonrestorative sleep, associated with impairments of daytime functioning or marked distress for more than 1 month."

Insomnia can be grouped into primary and secondary, or comorbid, insomnia. Primary insomnia is a sleep disorder not attributable to a medical, psychiatric, or environmental cause. A complete diagnosis will differentiate between:

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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