- Insomnia - what is it?
- Insomnia of the blind - what is the reason?
- Insomnia and hormones
- Insomnia in the blind - treatment
Insomnia in blind people occurs due to a change in the circadian rhythm and disturbances in the circadian rhythm of sleep and wakefulness. What exactly does it result from? Find out what causes insomnia in blind people and whether this type of sleep disorder can be treated.
It is worth emphasizing that insomnia can have various causes and can occur in everyone, regardless of age.Why do sleep disorders appear in the blind?What is the treatment of insomnia in their case? Find out if the use of melatonin is actually effective.
Insomnia is often described as a symptom consisting in difficulties in falling asleep or maintaining sleep, it is worth knowing that it is a separate disease that requires treatment. Therefore, people who believe that the length and quality of their sleep is inadequate, which means that they do not experience restorative sleep at night, lasting a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 9 hours, should see a specialist.
Contents:
- Insomnia - what is it?
- Insomnia of the blind - what is the reason?
- Insomnia and hormones
- Insomnia in the blind - treatment
Insomnia - what is it?
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that consists of insufficient sleep duration and quality. Most often it manifests itself as:
- difficulty falling asleep,
- frequent waking up during sleep,
- early morning wake up,
- and a significant deterioration in well-being after getting out of bed.
It is diagnosed in people with episodes of insomnia at least 3 times a week for at least a month and having a negative effect on well-being.
Insomnia can be associated with behaviors such as:
- snoring,
- apnea,
- leg cramps,
- sleepwalking etc.
As a symptom, it can also be the result of nightmares, night terrors or the effect of pharmacological agents. If it is short-lived (up to 4 weeks), it can be caused by stress, lifestyle changes, or diseases such as infections, etc.
If insomnia is chronic and lasts more than a month, it is most often associated with:
- with diseasespsychological,
- anxiety disorders,
- with addiction
- and somatic diseases (e.g. chronic inflammation - RA, hormonal disorders, etc.).
A high risk of insomnia is found in menopausal women, seniors, shift workers andblind people .
Insomnia of the blind - what is the reason?
Insomnia in blind people results from the freely running circadian rhythm. This means that blind people have a non-24-hour sleep-wake rhythm. In practice, this means that their biological day is usually longer than 24 hours (rarely shorter), which in turn causes them to fall asleep and wake up later.
Thus, these activities take place at different times every day, which in the long run prevents normal functioning, including participation in professional life, at school, and in general, in social life.
The freely running circadian rhythm causes the blind to experience periods of insomnia at night and sleepiness during the day.
The reason for this state of affairs is the lack of light perception , which determines the adjustment of the internal biological clock to the circadian sleep-wake rhythm. This is confirmed, among others, by research by Hiromi Tokura from Nara Women's University in Japan.
She compared the body temperature of the blind group with the temperature of the sighted group and noticed that in he althy people the temperature in the morning rises 3 hours earlier than in the blind.
Studies have shown that also in the evening, when the body goes into a state of rest, the body temperature in he althy people dropped 3 hours earlier than in the blind. This is proof that the blind have a rhythm other than the 24-hour sleep-wake rhythm.
Insomnia and hormones
Insomnia in blind people can also be related to the inappropriate secretion of melatonin, a hormone produced by a gland called the pineal gland and responsible for indicating to the body the time of sleep.
Thus, when the rhythm of hormone production is not linked to the daily cycle of sleep and activity, blind people are more likely to experience sleep disorders, including insomnia.
It is worth emphasizing, however, that the research does not clearly state that the blind experience insomnia much more often than sighted people. Various sources show thatinsomnia occurs in approx. 40-70% of the blind .
Insomnia in the blind - treatment
In the treatment of insomnia in the blind, the leading method is pharmacological treatment involving the use of preparations containing melatonin.
It's worth itemphasize that it is not a substance that causes sleep - it should be treated rather as a preparation that sets the right time for it.
Therefore, after consulting a doctor, a specialist recommends a blind person to use melatonin not only in a specific dose, but also at a specific time.
It is very important because the success of the therapy depends on it, and thus the normalization of the time of falling asleep and waking up.
Among the agents used, you can choose immediate-acting oral preparations, which reach the maximum concentration within 40 minutes or with slow release, approx. 1-2 hours before going to bed.
The Polish Society for Sleep Research recommends that doses should be used in treatment, which initially oscillate between 3 mg and 10 mg, and after 6-12 weeks of therapy are reduced to 0.5-3 mg (this is to consolidate rhythm of sleep).
See the gallery of 5 photosAbout the author
Sonia Młodzianowska Journalist, editor, copywriter. He publishes in he alth and parenting magazines and portals. He belongs to the Journalists for He alth Association.
Read more articles by this author