(Newswire.net — July 29, 2019) — As a passionate medical professional dedicated to healing people from illness and improving their overall health and wellbeing, Dr. Bikash Chowdhury stresses the foundations of a healthy lifestyle: exercise, proper diet and especially a good night’s rest.
Unfortunately, National Sleep Foundation polls suggest up to 20 percent of Americans are getting less than 6 hours of sleep each night and the number of people getting 8 hours or more is steadily decreasing. Insomnia is a type of sleep disorder in which a person has difficulty either falling asleep, staying asleep or both. While there are nearly 100 different types of sleep disorders identified so far, insomnia is the most common and most easily recognized.
Below, Dr. Bikash Chowdhury reviews some of the most common symptoms and possible treatments:
Symptoms
Not everyone with insomnia will suffer from all of the known symptoms. However, some of these symptoms underscore the adverse effects insomnia can have on a person’s health, energy levels, and ability to function effectively.
– Inability to fall asleep
– Inability to stay asleep
– Irritability
– Daytime fatigue
– Anxiety or depression
– Gastrointestinal problems
– Difficulty focusing or maintaining attention
Contrary to popular belief, insomnia isn’t a single disorder. Despite its many symptoms, it’s also a symptom of some other problem, which could be psychological or medical. It could also be the result of consuming too much caffeine. Any effective treatment should address not only the symptoms of insomnia itself but also its underlying causes.
Treatment
If you’re having difficulty sleeping, the first thing to do is tell your doctor. Depending on the situation, you might be given a referral to a specialist. A sleep specialist can look more deeply into your problem to discover its root cause.
It’s important to note that while insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, it’s not the only one. A sleep specialist is in the best position to determine whether your problem is insomnia or some other condition, such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome (RLS). If you’re already experimenting with sleep medications and they’re not working, you may find out they’re making the problem worse.
If you do have insomnia, a sleep specialist will first attempt to determine whether it’s the result of an undiagnosed health problem by giving you a physical exam and studying your medical history. There’s a good chance you’ll be asked to keep a sleep diary for a couple of weeks and possibly undergo tests at a sleep center. These findings will determine the course of action. While you might be given medications for a short period, most efforts will be dedicated to identifying the root cause of your problem and correcting any poor sleep habits.
The following are the two most common forms of treatment:
1. Behavioral therapy. This is typically considered the first line of treatment for insomnia. Behavioral therapy is all about improving a person’s sleep conditions. Most professionals consider this approach to be as effective as medications, except without the side effects and drawbacks. Individual therapies might include instruction in better sleep habits, cognitive therapy through counseling, sleep restriction therapy, relaxation techniques, and light therapy to help reset the body’s internal clock. The goals of behavioral therapy are to teach the body to fall asleep in under 30 minutes and to reduce wake-up periods.
2. Prescription medications. Although prescription sleeping pills are generally effective at inducing sleep, most doctors won’t recommend them for more than a few weeks. This is partly due to their potential side effects, which may include drowsiness, agitation, and impaired thinking. Additionally, severe allergic reactions have occurred in some instances, and when used for lengthy periods, many of these medications can be habit-forming.
There are alternative treatments for insomnia, but they require more clinical studies to prove their effectiveness before the mainstream medical community can accept them. This doesn’t mean they’re ineffective, but rather that behavioral therapy has been tested repeatedly and its efficacy can be demonstrated. If anything, alternative treatments like acupuncture and meditation might prove more effective when used alongside conventional treatment. In any case, if you’re having trouble sleeping, your best course of action is to get help right away, before initial symptoms have a chance to develop into a more severe problem that can damage your health and reduce your longevity.
About Dr. Bikash Chowdhury:
Dr. Bikash Chowdhury is a family physician and a family man, currently working in a medical center in Ontario, Canada as well as Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital near London, Ontario, Canada. With hard work and devotion, he graduated from Chittagong Medical College in Bangladesh and moved to Canada in 2002 with his family. After completing his two-year Residency at the University of Western Ontario, he became licensed to practice family medicine in Canada.