Whenever the Center's staff conducts a survey of the current medical literature, we must gather information from the various commercial database that specialize in supplying professional and technical summaries. Because most of these databases serve health professionals, they are not always available to the public. So, we have worked out a way to charge you a simple flat fee, which covers staff time, the cost of data retrieval, and preparation of the printed survey. Insomnia is a broad term for a wide range of sleep disorders, or disturbed sleep patterns. Sleep is, however, known to be necessary for survival, but its precise physiological function is still uncertain.
Individual requirements vary, and range from as few as four hours to as many as nine hours per day.
Causes of insomnia may be physical, psychological, or some combination of the two. Symptoms of insomnia also vary and are too subjective to try to list. Nearly always, though, symptoms include drowsiness during the day and unrest during the night. As people reach middle age, they are at greater risk of experiencing insomnia. In cases such as this, and others such as muscle cramps, where the causes of insomnia are clearly physical, treatment would focus, of course, on the physical condition.