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What is Insomnia?
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Insomnia, or the inability to fall or remain asleep, can take many different forms and has multiple causes.
Two main types of insomnia can be identified. Sleep-onset Insomnia (problems falling asleep, also called Initial Insomnia) and Sleep-maintenance insomnia (waking during the night and early in the morning).
Many people have a combination of these two types of insomnia. Insomnia may also be chronic (nearly every night) or intermittent (occasional insomnia).
It is estimated that over 50% of adults suffer from some sort of insomnia. While we all have occasional nights when we struggle to fall asleep, nothing can describe the frustration of battling to go to sleep night after night.
What is Healthy Sleep?
In order to understand the causes of insomnia, we need to have a look at how the sleep cycle works.
The amino acid L-tryptophan, found naturally in certain foods, is converted during digestion into 5-HTP and used in the manufacture of a neuro-transmitter called serotonin.
Serotonin, is then transformed into a sleep hormone called melatonin by the pineal gland in the brain. The pineal gland only becomes active after dark.
By regulating levels of melatonin, our bodies create the "sleep-wake cycle". Of course the process is more complex than this and there are other things that could contribute to sleep problems.
However, sufficient production of serotonin and melatonin is crucial in promoting and maintaining healthy sleep.
What causes insomnia?
There are many potential causes of insomnia, including sleep apnea, snoring, bladder or prostate problems, stress or depression.
People who are over 60 years old and women going through the menopause are more prone to insomnia, probably due to decreased levels of melatonin in the brain.
Other causes of insomnia include Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), magnesium or iron deficiency, hormonal imbalance, shift work and excessive consumption of caffeine or other stimulants. Insomnia is also a side effect of some prescription anti-depressant medication.
It is thought that more than half of all cases of insomnia are linked to psychological causes, including depression, anxiety and stress.
Sleep-onset insomnia is generally linked to environmental factors (e.g. noise, extreme temperatures, environmental change, etc), anxiety and stress, fear of insomnia or nightmares, pain, alcohol and caffeine.
Sleep-maintenance insomnia is often associated with depression, sleep apnea, nocturnal myoclonus, Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), hypoglycemia, pain, drugs, alcohol and environmental factors.
What is the best way to treat insomnia?
Medical science recognizes the strong association between good health and good quality sleep.
Unfortunately, due to lack of understanding and limited time, many conventional doctors do not take the time to investigate what the cause of a sleep disturbance might be and simply write out a prescription and send the patient on his or her way. This is not always the best long term solution.
The conventional doctors usually prescribe antihistamines (e.g. Nytol, Benadryl) or a class of drugs called benzodiazepines (e.g. Valium, Lorazapam, Alprazolam, etc) to treat insomnia.
While these drugs may be effective in the short term, they can both cause serious long term problems, including addiction and disturbance of normal sleep patterns.
Benzodiazepine addiction, in particular, can develop very quickly and using benzodiazepines for longer than a week or two may result in a lifetime of dependence.
Using strong drugs to fall asleep often means that the body's natural sleep cycle is disturbed and the ability to fall asleep naturally is lost. The person often needs to take stronger and stronger medication in order to fall asleep at night. Grogginess in the morning is not uncommon.
Restoring Healthy Sleep the Natural Way
Naturopaths recognize that sleep is like a barometer. When someone consistently struggles to sleep, this is a sign that something is wrong and needs to be investigated.
Perhaps there are problems at work or in a relationship. Perhaps there is a depression that needs to be treated. Maybe there is a serotonin or a magnesium deficiency which needs attention. Maybe there is another condition which is causing the sleep problem. Simply taking strong drugs to fall asleep is not enough and can further complicate the picture.
Fortunately it is possible to treat insomnia in a natural and more holistic way, resulting in a long-term solution which does not damage your health or lead to addiction.
Source: (Native Remedies) | 
