Sleep is an essential part of good health. A good night’s sleep can help you feel good, look healthy, work effectively and think clearly.
But sleep is not always so easy to come by. If you sometimes have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, you’re not alone. A 1991 Gallup study found that more than one-third of all Americans suffer occasional or chronic insomnia.
People often are surprised to learn that daytime drowsiness is not an inevitable, harmless byproduct of modern life, but rather a key sign of a sleep problem that could be disastrous if not treated.
Recent figures show that nearly a quarter of the population regularly cannot go to, or remain asleep, and every year doctors write out more than 14 million prescriptions for sleeping tablets.
The causes of sleeplessness are many and varied. ‘It can be due to a medical condition, such as chronic pain from rheumatism or arthritis,’ says Professor Jim Horne, who runs the Sleep Research Laboratory at Loughborough University. ‘Or it can be chemical, as a result of drinking tea, coffee or alcohol. Chronic or long-term insomnia is often associated with depression or...