In our fast and hectic lifestyles much of our health suffers, but nothing more than our ability to get a good night’s sleep.

If I meet anyone who has the ability to sleep right through the night, for at least eight hours, I feel admiration for them.

So many people wake up briefly, then the ‘monkey mind’ takes over and thoughts begin to jump all over the place. Once this has taken hold, it is very difficult to get back to a relaxing sleep.

Alternatively, you could be woken up by the need to visit the toilet, once again the ability to return to restful sleep is destroyed. Sleep apnoea is something more people are suffering from and this, again, has huge effects on restful sleep.

The effects of deprived sleep do not stay with the individual. Partners are always disturbed too so this can cause relationship issues. What is the answer?

It takes the body about three to seven hours to break down half a single dose of caffeine (a cup of coffee)

Well, there is no straightforward answer and insomnia can literally drive you crazy, as can the drugs used to treat it. There is a variety of research and books written by sufferers attesting to the emergence of mental illness from lack of restful sleep.

Elliott Kyung Lee of the University of Ottawa Department of Psychology and Psychiatry and Alan Douglas, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Service of the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, wrote: “The same neurochemistry that controls the sleep/wake cycle has also been implicated in the pathophysiology of numerous psychiatric disorders. It is, therefore, no surprise that several psychiatric disorders have prominent sleep symptoms.”

Of particular interest to scientists are the changes in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow-wave sleep which, they say, may have significant roles in memory, cognitive function and regulation of the emotions, particularly when it has to do with memories. But which comes first? The sleep disorder or the mental disorder?

Doctors have long believed that mental illness itself triggers abnormal sleeping patterns, but new research by Matthew Walker from the University of California at Berkley working with researchers at Harvard, concluded the reverse. Lack of sleep can literally drive us crazy.

This research is vast and in-depth. However, let’s look at some sleep stealers for more practical advice that can be used in changing our lifestyles.

Any shift in the balance of sex hormones (testosterone, oestrogen and progesterone) can upset your sleep. The latest thinking is that insomnia and hot flushes are so interlinked that it is difficult to determine which causes the other.

When a researcher interviewed more than 3,200 women in California aged over 18, nearly 60 per cent hadn’t reached menopause, while just 22 per cent were going through the menopause and the rest were post-menopausal.

Chronic insomnia for at least six months was reported by 80 per cent of the women in the latter two groups, who also suffered hot flushes.

Smoking and drinking too much coffee are factors. It takes the body about three to seven hours to break down half a single dose of caffeine (a cup of coffee). So if you are drinking coffee throughout the day, it will take your body even longer to get rid of all the caffeine.

Something we all should be aware of by now is that caffeine consumption affects the ability to sleep for many hours. Similarly, the nicotine in cigarettes can cause wakefulness, as can nicotine withdrawal or nicotine replacement therapy if you are trying to break the habit.

Alcohol is also a factor. This may sound unlikely as when most people have had too much to drink, they just pass out. It can be thought of as a sedative. However, alcohol has a stimulating effect because it increases the release of dopamine. Also, giving up drinking (like giving up smoking) can cause insomnia too.

Being deficient in nutrients can have an effect on our sleep. The mineral magnesium plays an important role in regulating our circadian cycle (the sleep/wake rhythm of the body). The more you suffer from insomnia, the lower the levels of magnesium in your cells.

If you find yourself waking in the night due to limb movements, such as restless leg syndrome or teeth grinding, then taking 300mg/day of magnesium may help significantly, as it did in people suffering from either syndrome after four to six weeks (Sleep, 1998).

In some people, food hypersensitivity may be the cause of sleep deprivation. The clue is a delay of some six hours between eating the offending food and feeling wide awake, most likely due to an outpouring of various excitatory neurohormones as well as thyroid hormones.

The sleep givers are varied. Here is a shortened list of some of them. Lavender oil has proved to help. Acupuncture was found in a randomised trial to improve sleep in 40 insomniacs. Hypnosis can be helpful. Homeopathy has a range of options and can be guided by a registered homeopath. Biofeedback, brain music and neurofeedback have all helped.

There are many other options besides medication, including herbs, changing your lifestyle relating to the sleep stealers and making the bedroom an electronic free zone: dark, quiet and comfortable.

Don’t forget to turn off your mobile phone.

kathryn@maltanet.net