Image credit: Pixabay/Unsplash Women appear to be more vulnerable to sleep disturbances compared to men. As a result, women are more likely to take sleeping pills for insomnia — and it's important to be aware of the fact that sleep medications can act differently across genders. A 2016 review published in Current Sleep Medicine Reports highlighted the fact that two medications commonly used to treat sleep disorders act differently in women compared to men. The effect of zolpidem on women Zolpidem is a sedative designed to treat insomnia. The drug comes in four formulatio ..read more

Image credit: Pixabay/hamiltonpaviana There is a strong link between depression and insomnia. One study found that as many as 70% of individuals with depression had symptoms of insomnia and sleep disorders are one of the diagnostic criteria for depression. Unfortunately, antidepressant drugs can come with a number of side-effects such as: Nausea Sedation Dry mouth Weight gain Tachycardia Constipation Blurred vision Is there a natural alternative to antidepressants? Previous studies have found that antidepressants combined with acupuncture can be more effective than antidepressan ..read more

Image credit: FreeImages/Steve Knight Insomnia tends to be more prevalent in older adults. As a result, older individuals are more likely to seek help for their sleep issues, which unfortunately leads to higher rates of sleeping pill use. A 2016 review published in Clinical Therapeutics set out to determine the safety and efficacy of sleep medicines prescribed to older adults. Its findings are outlined below. I am not a doctor. I am simply sharing peer-reviewed research. All questions regarding medication should be directed to a qualified healthcare professional. Benzodiazepines for sleep E ..read more

Image credit: Pixabay/jrperes When it comes to the best treatment option for insomnia, there is a ton of conflicting information out there. I see plenty of bad advice handed out to people suffering from insomnia and I see many so-called insomnia cures that have little (or no) evidence on their safety or effectiveness get recommended on a regular basis. Let's change all that, starting today. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine conducts comprehensive reviews of scientific literature on a periodic basis to help determine which insomnia treatments actually work. Want to know how to cure ..read more

Image credit: Pixabay/darkerstar A lot of insomnia sufferers I talk to have one thing in common —  no matter how hard they try to fall asleep and stay asleep, they just can't do it.  And that's the problem. Sleep is a natural process. As soon as we try to force sleep, we immediately make it more difficult to sleep. This has been confirmed in studies, too. One of them, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, involved 33 good sleepers with an average age of 24. Participants visited a sleep lab twice, and started off in one of two groups. The neutral instruction group w ..read more

Image credit: Pixabay/HASTYWORDS Teenagers should be getting between seven to 11 hours of sleep, with eight to 10 hours being the current recommendation from the National Sleep Foundation. However, it has been suggested that as many as 69% of high school students get seven hours of sleep or less. Furthermore, close to half have reported serious difficulty when it comes to staying awake at school. Childhood sleep deprivation is a big problem in the United States and can lead to a number of health and lifestyle problems including: Obesity Alcohol and drug abuse A higher risk for self-harm A ..read more

Image credit: Pixabay/stevepb We already know that sleep deprivation harms memory and learning. Now it would appear that the consolidation of memories during sleep is influenced by  how much we care about those memories . In research presented at the British Science Festival, events that are considered to be important are given preferential treatment by the brain when it consolidates memories during sleep. The study involved 80 English-speaking university students who were shown 28 Welsh-language words before being kept awake or being allowed to sleep for at least six hours. 12 ho ..read more

Image credit: FreeImages.com/Ben C. If you read the news and believe all the sensationalist headlines, you're probably under the impression that mankind is going through a stage of chronic sleep deprivation. That may not be the case, though. Although some studies have suggested that average sleep duration has declined over the last few decades, others have cast doubt on such findings. As a result of this, researchers set out to conduct a review of literature published from 1960 to 2013 to see if sleep duration really has been in decline. Their review involved 168 studies with 257 data point ..read more

Image credit: Pixabay.com/bykst The Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale is a 16-item survey designed to evaluate sleep related thoughts. Studies have found that those who score highly on the scale (ie those with the strongest dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes) are more likely to have issues with insomnia, particularly when it comes to falling asleep. Take a look at the 16 statements below. If you can relate to them, it's important to take steps to correct these thoughts since they're making it more difficult for you to get a good night's sleep. Dysfunctional beliefs and ..read more

Image credit: Pixabay.com/AlexVan Most cases of insomnia are caused by incorrect thoughts and behaviors towards sleep. Known as psychophysiologic insomnia, sufferers often focus far too much attention on their sleep (or lack of it). This makes sleep more difficult, creating a negative cycle of worry and sleep deprivation. Healthy sleepers tend to take a passive approach towards sleep. It's time for bed, so they get into bed. They switch off the lights, relax, and sleep comes. Insomnia sufferers will often try to force sleep. They'll go to bed earlier than they should (in ..read more