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By
Dr. Joseph Mercola
with Rachael Droege
Insomnia. It is a term used to describe the more than 82 million
Americans who routinely have trouble falling asleep and staying
asleep. For those who have ever experienced a few sleepless nights
in a row you are likely familiar with the feeling of desperation
that sets in as you struggle to function during the following day.
If it’s any consolation, you are not alone. Close to 40 percent
of the U.S. population over the age of 15 reports they’ve experienced
insomnia at least occasionally.
Why do we Sleep?
For an activity that takes up one-third of our lives, little is
known about sleep and humans. It’s known, for example, that
during the deepest phases of sleep growth hormone is released, energy
is restored and the immune system is strengthened, and during REM
(rapid eye movement) sleep we have vivid dreams and our brains may
be working on consolidating memories.
Further, a
study published in Nature last week found that our brain restructures
new memories during sleep, helping us to solve problems and become
more insightful. However, how and why this occurs, and how we’ve
evolved to thrive off of a certain amount of sleep each night is
largely unknown.
While it was once thought that our brains were inactive or dormant
during sleep, it’s now known that our brains are very active
during sleep and require the activity of special nerve cells just
to maintain a state of sleep. But the effects of sleep on our physical
and mental health are only just beginning to be understood.
Insomnia’s Effects on Health and
the Economy
What is known about sleep is that when we don’t get enough
of it there are serious consequences to our physical and mental
health, economy and society as a whole. Insomnia, which can occur
intermittently or for several days or months at a time, is classified
as:
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Difficulty falling asleep
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Waking frequently during the night
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Waking too early in the morning and not being able to get back
to sleep
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Waking feeling unrefreshed
Insomnia will affect your hormone
levels and accelerate
aging and has been named as the culprit in a variety of diseases
including:
But one of the most obvious and immediate effects of insomnia
is the increased risk of accidents. As reported in Business
Week, "Studies show that someone who has been awake for
24 hours has the same mental acuity as a person with a blood alcohol
level of 0.1, which is above the legal limit for driving in most
states."
This is a serious enough problem for the typical person driving
to work, as an average of 70,000 auto accidents are caused by sleepy
drivers each year, but when you consider someone who is a health
care worker, pilot, or law enforcement worker, the effects can be
deadly. Some 39 percent of health-care workers report that they’ve
had a "near miss or accident" at work due to fatigue in
the last year.
Further, sleep disorders cost the nation about $45 billion every
year in lost productivity, health care and motor vehicle accidents.
New Sleeping Pills on the Horizon
Not surprisingly, the drug companies are scrambling to create new
and improved sleeping pills that they can peddle to all of these
sleepless people. It’s estimated that the market for such drugs
will reach $5 billion by 2010, more than double its current value.
Sleeping pills have caused some serious side effects in the past,
such as addiction, depression, and suicide, but the newer drugs,
some due out in 2004, promise to be non-addictive, safer and more
effective than previous versions.
Here are just a few of the new sleep aid drugs that are being developed
(data from Business
Week):
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Indiplon: Manufacturer Neurocrine Biosciences Inc is seeking
approval so the drug can be used nightly for months at a time
(all current sleep drugs are approved for short-term use only)
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Estorra: The manufacturer, Sepracor, is seeking approval to
label the drug as safe for use longer than a week
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PD-200,390: Manufacturer Pfizer claims the drug can lengthen
the deepest phases of sleep
Other drug companies are seeking to widen their market of current
products, such as Cephalon’s narcolepsy drug Provigil. The
manufacturer just received approval last month to market the drug
to treat a range of sleep disorders, including sleepiness suffered
by night-shift workers, as opposed to only narcolepsy.
The drug companies will surely play their part in popularizing
the new drugs by playing up the risks of insomnia along with the
benefits of their drugs, but what really needs to be addressed is
whether a drug-induced sleep can really provide the same, complex
benefits that natural sleep provides--and I would suspect not.
Methods to Help You Sleep
If you’re suffering from insomnia it may be tempting to look
to a pill for an immediate solution, but in the long-term the effects
of these drugs are likely to be worse than those of the insomnia.
Here are my top 10 suggestions from my Guide
to a Good Night’s Sleep for those of you who are having
sleep problems, and you can check out the guide for 19 more.
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My favorite for insomnia is Emotional
Freedom Technique (EFT). Most people can learn this gentle
tapping technique in several minutes.
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EFT can help balance your body’s bioenergy system and
resolve some of the emotional stresses that are contributing
to the insomnia at a very deep level. The results are typically
long lasting and the improvement is remarkably rapid.
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Avoid before-bed snacks, particularly grains and sugars. This
will raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep. Later, when blood
sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), you might wake up and not
be able to fall back asleep.
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Sleep in complete darkness or as close as possible. When light
hits the eyes, it disrupts the circadian rhythm of the pineal
gland and production of melatonin and seratonin. There also
should be as little light in the bathroom as possible if you
get up in the middle of the night.
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No TV right before bed. Even better, get the TV out of the
bedroom or even out of the house, completely. It is too stimulating
to the brain and it will take longer to fall asleep. Also disruptive
of pineal gland function for the same reason as above.
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Wear socks to bed. Due to the fact that they have the poorest
circulation, the feet often feel cold before the rest of the
body. A study has shown
that this reduces night wakings.
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Read something spiritual or religious. This will help to relax.
Don't read anything stimulating, such as a mystery or suspense
novel, as this may have the opposite effect. In addition, if
you are really enjoying a suspenseful book, you might wind up
unintentionally reading for hours instead of going to sleep.
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Avoid using loud alarm clocks. It is very stressful on the
body to be woken suddenly. If you are regularly getting enough
sleep, they should be unnecessary. I gave up my alarm clock
five years ago and use a dawn simulator, which switches from
an alarm to a dimmer switch that gradually turns the light on
to full intensity over 45 minutes. I just love it as it is so
gentle, and if I need more sleep I get it without being startled
or disrupting my adrenals. Almost like a real dawn.
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Journaling. If you often lay in bed with your mind racing,
it might be helpful keep a journal and write down your thoughts
before bed. Personally, I have been doing this for 15 years
but prefer to do it in the morning when my brain is functioning
at its peak and my coritsol levels are high (CLICK
HERE)
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Melatonin and its precursors. If behavioral changes do not
work, it may be possible to improve sleep by supplementing with
the hormone melatonin. However, I would exercise extreme caution
in using it, and only as a last resort, as it is a powerful
hormone. Ideally, it is best to increase levels naturally with
exposure to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full
spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and absolute complete
darkness at night. One should get blackout drapes so no light
is coming in from the outside. One can also use one of melatonin's
precursors, L-tryptophan or 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). L-tryptophan
is the safest and my preference, but must be obtained by prescription
only. However, don't be afraid or intimidated by its prescription
status. It is just a simple amino acid.
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Get to bed as early as possible. Our systems, particularly
the adrenals, do a majority of their recharging or recovering
during the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. In addition, your gallbladder
dumps toxins during this same period. If you are awake, the
toxins back up into the liver, which then secondarily backs
up into your entire system and causes further disruption of
your health. Prior to the widespread use of electricity, people
would go to bed shortly after sundown, as most animals do, and
which nature intended for humans as well.
For 19 more tips, visit the "Guide
to a Good Night's Sleep"
Related Articles:
One of the BEST Cures
for Insomnia
Overactive Adrenals Leads
to Insomnia
Lack of Daylight
May Cause Insomnia
Kava and Valerian Work for
Insomnia, But There are Better Options
Sleep-Deprived Children
More Prone to Injury
Less Than 8 Hours of Sleep May
Not Hurt Health
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