Insomnia is a disorder that involves the inability to falling asleep or staying asleep. In patients who experience, duration and sleep quality is low and interferes with its everyday life. This disorder is manifested by a difficulty initiating sleep, to keep it or by a final awakening in advance.

Causes

You can set four causes of insomnia:

* Physiological changes: aging causes changes in sleep patterns. In older people is often a reduction of hours and quality of sleep and increased daytime sleepiness.
* Lifestyle: the constant changes of time, either labor issues or travel (jet lag) causes alterations in the circadian rhythm.
* Drugs: between drugs and substances that can disrupt sleep are antihypertensives, anticholinergics, hormones, stimulants, steroids, antidepressants, bronchodilators, decongestants, antineoplastic agents, caffeine and levodopa.
* Physical or psychological diseases: Some diseases associated with insomnia:
* Cardiovascular disorders: coronary insufficiency, Left ventricular failure and cardiac arrhythmias.
* Pulmonary disorders: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma.
* Eating disorders (ED): anorexia nervosa.
* Endocrine disorders: thyroid dysfunction.
* Neurological disorders: headaches, Parkinson’s diseaseLesions in the thalamus.

Types of Insomnia

Transient: lasts less than three weeks and originally involved Many factors can usually be modified as related environmental and lifestyle diseases and drugs to be treated. About 90 percent of the population admits to having suffered an episode of insomnia throughout his life.

Chronic: than three weeks. It can be perceived as a disease that interferes with daily activity patient with severe physical and psychological consequences.
Diagnostics

In order to diagnose insomnia, your doctor will assess the pattern of dream of the person, it makes use of drugs, alcohol and drugs illegal, the degree of psychological stress, medical history and level of physical activity. Some people need less sleep than others and therefore the diagnosis of insomnia is based on individual needs. The doctors can be classified as primary insomnia, a sleep disorder length is apparently not associated with stressors or experiences, or secondary, an alteration caused by pain, anxiety, drugs, depression or excessive stress.

First, we must discard, by physical examination and review Psychologically, any disease that can cause insomnia. The correct treatment of this disorder is only possible if it is determined of their precise origin. Sometimes insomnia masks a problem anxiety or depression. It should also be evaluated for hygiene patient’s sleep, as ingestion of alcohol or caffeine in the evening, taking drugs for other diseases, noisy environments, poorly oxygenated or extreme temperatures, and habits such as reading or watching TV in bed. These customs must be corrected before starting treatment. On the other hand, should not ignore the possible psychological disorders and family history.

Treatments

Reeducation dream Is to improve sleep hygiene, stimulus control that cause insomnia and regular schedules:

* Do not go to bed until sleepy.
* Do not watch TV, read or eat in bed.
* Minimum separation of one hour between the last meal and bedtime.
* Avoid heavy meals.
* Remove the alcohol because, despite inducing sleep, waking early and produces reduced total sleep time.
* Reduce caffeine and snuff.
* Regular physical exercise, but not before bedtime.
* Improve environmental conditions, reduce noise and avoid extreme temperatures.
* Sleep restriction: shorten the bed to actual sleep time. Then goes forward to bedtime from 15 to 30 minutes.
* Relaxation therapies.
* Establish a routine time to set the clock.

Drug treatment: The drugs used for treating insomnia symptoms or illnesses, physical or psychological, which originate. In the first case hypnotics are administered at bedtime and the second anxiolytics, antidepressants or neuroleptics. The patient should not self-medicate in any case, as these substances can worsen their condition, generate resistance or addiction. Treatment should be established by the physician, who will assess the need to manage under the origin and severity of the disorder. In terms of relaxation techniques are effective in reducing hyperactivity physiological insomnia. In addition, psychotherapy can help patients recognize their psychological conflicts or traumatic experiences.