Treating the cause of insomnia will treat the insomnia

There are millions in this world today who suffer from insomnia. When sleeplessness moves beyond the normal range of a few days into weeks and months, you have a really serious problem afflicting you that requires express treatment. However, first you must have a basic understanding of insomnia and its different aspects.
Insomnia is a common sleep complaint that occurs when you have one or more of these problems; You have a hard time initiating sleep, struggle to maintain sleep, waking up frequently during the night, tend to wake up too early and are unable to go back to sleep. Or your sleep is no restorative or has poor quality. These symptoms of insomnia can be caused by a variety of biological, psychological, medical disorder and social factors. They most often result in an inadequate amount of sleep, even though the sufferer has the opportunity to get a full night of sleep.
Insomnia is different from sleep deprivation, which occurs when an individual does not have the opportunity to get a full night of sleep. A small percentage of people who have trouble sleeping are actually short sleepers who can function normally on only five hours of sleep or less.
Anyone can get Insomnia. Most of people experience at least once in their lives. It is estimated that approximately 33% to 50% of the adult population have insomnia symptoms. Those who has daytime distress or impairment found to be in 10% to 15% of adult population.
Insomnia usually diagnosed by a through sleep history, detailed medical history, substance intake history and psychiatric history. And some patients need to have polysomnography (sleep Test) and investigations. These things are usually done by the sleep specialist. Most of the time treating the cause of insomnia will treat the insomnia. However, this is not the usual scenario. Patients with chronic insomnia have multiple factors causing this disorder.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most effective treatment for insomnia and has no side effect yet can last long. A Board-Certified sleep specialist or a psychologist specialized in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia usually does it. The patient needs from 4 to 6 sessions to increase sleeping hours. Another treatment modality is sleeping pills which are usually prescribed by a physician for short period of time but unfortunately, the risk of dependency along with other side effects is high.
Most of the people diagnosed with insomnia tend to go to the pharmacy and take over the counter sleep aids which contain antihistamine. It can help them sleep better, but it may cause severe daytime sleepiness, liver damage especially if they used in high quantity and many other side effect. Other products, including herbal supplements, have little evidence to support their effectiveness.

Hala M. Aboulkhair, MD
Associate Consultant, Sleep Medicine/
Internal Medicine
International Medical Center, Jeddah