What is Insomnia

Raena Morgan: Dr. Hajal, sleeplessness affects a lot of Americans, doesn't it? Dr. Rizan Hajal: Right. It's very, very common. At least about a third of Americans get one bad night of sleep in a year. And most of them end up using something over-the-counter or a natural remedy to help them fall back to sleep. Raena Morgan: What is insomnia? Just an inability to stay asleep, go to sleep? Dr. Rizan Hajal: That's true. So, insomnia is the fact that you cannot fall asleep initially or you cannot stay asleep. So in fact, it doesn't really matter how many hours of sleep you do get. What's important is that when you wake up in the morning, you don't feel that you had your rest. Raena Morgan: Oh, Okay. Dr. Rizan Hajal: And you feel tired throughout the day and this is the definition of what insomnia is. Raena Morgan: And does it affect all age groups? Dr. Rizan Hajal: It does. It affects all age groups, so you can have everybody knows about the insomnia that children can get, not wanting to fall asleep, to adolescence, not being able to fall asleep initially. But then it gets farther worse with age down the road. And it's a lot more common in women than men. Not a lot more common. I would say twice more common in women than in men. Raena Morgan: That's a lot. And why would that be? Do you know? Dr. Rizan Hajal: We don't really know, but it could be related to hormonal changes that the woman would get. We know that it increases a lot around menopause and after menopause, for instance. And it could be cyclical, also, with their hormonal changes, as well. Raena Morgan: So, elderly folks, they say they get up before the crack of dawn. Dr. Rizan Hajal: Right. Raena Morgan: Could that be insomnia? Dr. Rizan Hajal: No. One big misconception is that old people think that they don't need sleep as they used to, which is not true. Raena Morgan: It's not true? Dr. Rizan Hajal: They can't get sleep. Raena Morgan: Okay. Dr. Rizan Hajal: That's for sure but they're sitting in a chair in and out of sleep all day long, and that's a sign they didn't get enough sleep. So, elderly people need as much sleep as younger people and this is personal, so, yeah. I always ask them how much they were sleeping when they were 30 and you can get an indication of how much sleep they actually do need. Raena Morgan: So, all that napping that goes on with elderly people. Dr. Rizan Hajal: Yeah. That's a problem with them. I mean, it becomes a vicious cycle because they nap during the day; they won't be able to sleep at night and so on. But how much do elderly is people is they frequently they start sleeping earlier. So, they go to bed at 8'o clock in the evening and then they wake up at 3'o clock and say and they come and say I cannot sleep. But, you shouldn't have been in bed at 8 pm. There are many social issues, could be going around, it get bored, there's nobody to talk to. But there are also, we think, brain issues, which is the sensitivity to light is a little bit lost, so they end up falling asleep a little bit earlier, as well. Raena Morgan: Are there different kinds of insomnia? Dr. Rizan Hajal: There are many kinds of insomnia. The most differentiation we should do is the primary insomnia, which means those people who cannot fall asleep just because they cannot fall asleep, which is a disease in and of itself. Raena Morgan: And that's primary? Dr. Rizan Hajal: Right. Raena Morgan: Okay. Dr. Rizan Hajal: And this is a disease in and of itself. And those people who do very well with treatment of the insomnia, specifically. But then, there are others and those are more common, insomnia associated with other diseases, depression, anxiety, or lack of sensitivity to light, as in the elderly people, changes in life cycles and hormonal changes. And there's plenty. The most common one also is aches and pains. There are so many people who, you know, have a bad back or a bad knee and they minimize how much impact it has on their sleep, when in fact, it's disrupting it. Raena Morgan: Or something like fibromyalgia could disrupt their sleep. Dr. Rizan Hajal: Exactly, exactly and then the lack of sleep of restful sleep will manifest itself by having a lower sensitivity to pain, a higher sensitivity to pain, which means you have also aches and pains and muscle aches from the insomnia to begin with and then so and so.