Insomnia

The rhythm of everything

Dawn triggers basic biological changes in the waking human body. As the sun rises, so does heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. The liver, the kidneys and many natural processes also begin shifting ...

Jun 18, 2013
popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

What's the buzz on caffeine?

The most popular addictive drug available in Australia right now is 1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine, or C₈H₁₀N₄O₂. Let's call it 137TX until we can come up with something catchier.

Jun 03, 2013
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Sweet dreams in the North Sea

Some workers in Norway's North Sea Oil industry alternate between night and day shifts, the so-called swing shift. A recent study conducted by Postdoctoral fellow Siri Waage and colleagues at the University of Bergen's (UiB) ...

May 31, 2013
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New sleeping pill poised to hit US markets

An experimental sleeping pill from US drug company Merck is effective at helping people fall and stay asleep, according to reviewers at the US Food and Drug Administration, which could soon approve the new drug.

May 21, 2013
popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

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.

May 20, 2013
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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, ...

May 14, 2013
popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2

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 licensed under CC BY-SA

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