Common Treatment for Insomnia

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In recent years a new disease that has raised many concerns is insomnia. Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is categorized into two: primary insomnia, and secondary insomnia. Primary insomnia is defined as a person who just has difficulty with going to sleep, but are not directly associated with other health conditions. Secondary insomnia means a person is having sleep issues because of a primary health condition. Insomnia can range between acute and chronic. People with acute insomnia can be cured by practicing healthy sleep habits. These can include avoidance of the consumption of stimulants such as caffeine for a few hours prior to sleeping, attempting to develop a regular sleep schedule and practicing different forms of relaxation exercise prior to going to sleep.
Chronic insomnia can be much more difficult to treat. In fact, chronic illnesses are a significant risk for insomnia. It is estimated that the majority of people with insomnia approximately 75%–90% have an increased risk for other medical disorders, such conditions include: hypoxemia and dyspnea, gastroesophageal reflux disease, pain conditions, and neurodegenerative diseases (Roth, 2007). Chronic insomnia is highly prevalent and affects approximately 30% of the general population. It is estimated that 40% of all insomnia patients have a coexisting psychiatric condition (Ford, 1989). The most common are depression and other anxiety disorders. Medical condition such as enlarged prostate or other bladder diseases requiring frequent urination can impact sleep patterns. The use of psychotic medications can also affect sleep patterns. Though the medical field has come a long way to find the causes of insomnia, most people do not know the procedures or measurements of th...

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...e current evidence for acupuncture is not sufficiently supported for the treatment of insomnia.

Works Cited

Baillargeon L, Demers M, Ladouceur R. (1998 Jan). Stimulus-control: nonpharmacologic treatment for insomnia. 44:73-9. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9481465
Bliwise DL, Ansari FP. (2007) Insomnia associated with valerian and melatonin usage in the 2002 National Health Interview Survey. Sleep. 30(7):881–884.
Cheuk DK, Yeung WF, Chung KF, et al. (2007) Acupuncture for insomnia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Online). (3):CD005472.
Ford DE, Kamerow DB. Epidemiologic study of sleep disturbances and psychiatric disorders. An opportunity for prevention? Journal of American Medical Association. 1989;262:1479–84.
Roth T. (2007). Insomnia: definition, prevalence, etiology, and consequences. J. Clin. Sleep Med. 3, S7–S10.

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