Insomnia is the inability to enjoy normal and sufficient sleep. Tossing and turning for hours, with your eyes wide open, while everyone else is sleeping peacefully is a most undesirable experience. Still, sporadic insomnia lasting a few days is not uncommon, and it is generally related to stress and the ups and downs of life. When insomnia becomes chronic, however, emotional or clinical disorders may be involved. For appropriate treatment to be given, it is important to know exactly what is causing the insomnia. A medical examination called a polysomnogram has contributed to the diagnosis and treatment of many sleep disorders. One of the most common causes of chronic insomnia among adults is related to snoring. If you have ever slept near someone who snores, you know that this can be extremely uncomfortable. Snoring can be a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), in which the closure of the throat temporarily prevents a sleeper from sucking air into his lungs. Initial steps in treating OSAS include weight loss, avoidance of alcoholic beverages, and avoidance of muscle-relaxant drugs. Specialists may also prescribe specific medication or the use of dental appliances or a continuous positive airway pressure machine. Children can also suffer from insomnia. The signs of sleep deprivation may appear at school—poor scholastic achievement, irritation, lack of concentration—perhaps leading to a wrong diagnosis of hyperactivity.

Approximately 1 in 8 people suffer from Insomnia. That means that there are approximately 32 million insomniacs in the United States and some ¾ billion worldwide. Very few hospitalizations are due to insomnia (0.001%). However, 98% of hospital consultations of insomnia resulted in admission. The median length of stay in hospital for insomniac admissions was is 1 day.

58% of adults experience symptoms of insomnia a few nights or more per week. 35% of adults report at least one symptom of insomnia every night or almost every night. Research suggests that adults require an average of 8 to 8.5 hours of sleep each night**Each year, sleep disorders, sleep deprivation and sleepiness add an estimated .9 billion to the national health care bill. The International Classification of Sleep Disorders lists 84 sleep disorders that serve as a guide for diagnosis .

(Statistics from the National Institutes of Health National Center for Sleep Disorder Research).