Insomnia
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Insomnia is when people are unable to sleep. This is not like having a bad night once, but to have a disturbed or light sleep over and over again. A person suffering from this disease is called an insomniac.
The causes for insomnia can be many:
- As people get older, their sleep patterns change. They will sleep shorter periods of time, but more often. Younger people usually sleep longer. This is something completely normal and nothing to worry about.
- Some insomnias are caused by real-world causes. Coffee stimulates the body, and people tend to drink quite a lot of it when they are at work. If they drink too much of it, they will have problems falling asleep in the evening. (The same is true for tea, colas, or any other drink with caffeine).
- Some people worry quite a bit. Their worries during the day will haunt them at night. They will have nightmares, or they may wake up sweating.
- Some substances, like alcohol can have a negative effect. It may be very hard to sleep if you have drunk a lot of alcohol. The world may start spinning and you could have an urge to vomit as soon as you close your eyes. Drugs can also have this effect, even some "sleeping" pills.
- A very rare disease called fatal familial insomnia prevents some people from falling asleep. In this disease, a person loses the ability to go to sleep and eventually dies from exhaustion. It is caused by a protein similar to the one that causes mad cow disease.
