Insomnia menubar
INSOMNIA Causes
Insomnia has many possible underlying causes
Desynchronization of the biological clock
E.g. if unable to fall asleep, called delayed sleep-phase syndrome (DSPS),
your biological clock has lost its timing mechanism, making you more alert in the
evening.
The Biological Clock
- Staying
awake too many hours or too much light in the evening (maybe from a
brightly lit computer screen) can alter your proverbial "timing belt".
Actually, it is only blue light which suppresses
MELATONIN production, and there are some ways to filter out the blue light.
- Lack of
exposure to light. Japanese researchers
studied 10 nursing home residents with insomnia and found thatincreasing
their exposure to light increased their MELATONIN
production (proportional to brightness) and improved their sleeping patterns/quality.
Exposing elderly patients to 4 hours of bright, artificial light at midday
for 4 weeks MELATONIN production to be similar
to the young control group's. (J. of Endocrinology,
2001)
- Too much
light in your bedroom can keep you awake.
Once in bed,
darkness allows your biological clock to produce
MELATONIN MELATONIN and
SEROTONIN .
MELATONIN levels are reduced by 50% when
exposed to a low-level incandescent bulb for only 39 minutes at night.
Hormonal imbalance
Decreased
MELATONIN
/ Hormone Imbalance/Depression.
The major cause of insomnia is decreased levels of
MELATONIN. Depression is often related to
a SEROTONIN deficiency,
thus it follows that since MELATONIN is produced
from SEROTONIN , that
insomnia is likely to be present with depression.
MELATONIN
Stress.
Over-stimulates
the brain and is associated with high CORTISOL
levels, affected by:
- Negative
emotions. Including worry, fear, anxiety;
- Positive
emotions. Such as excitement, anticipation, or watching
thrillers on TV;
- Overactive
adrenals. Chronic insomniacs found to have significantly
higher levels of adrenal stress hormones, suggesting that these individuals suffer
from sustained, round-the-clock activation of the body's system for responding to
stress. This hyperarousal is also a risk factor for both psychiatric illness (E.g.
depression) and medical illness (E.g. high BP, obesity, osteoporosis).
(J. of Endocrinology, 2001)
Nutrient-related causes
Caffeine-containing drinks/foods before bedtime
- Promotes
the exact reverse of what you want to happen as you go to sleep.
Caffeine speeds nervous system and other major body systems. E.g. 15
minutes after downing a cup of coffee, blood adrenaline level rises, triggering
an increase in heart rate, breathing rate, urinary output, and production
of stomach acids.
- Caffeine
also prompts adrenal hormones to release sugar stored in the liver, which stimulates
sugar cravings to replenish the stores. A blood sugar
roller coaster effect ensues as the quick high is followed by a sugar slump.
Caffeine -"The Jitter Drug"
Nutrient Deficiencies
• Potassium deficiency.
Causes inability to fall /stay asleep.
• Zinc deficiency.
Causes one to wake up hours earlier than wanted.
Optic nerve damage
Optic nerve damage
causes problems sleeping, falling and staying asleep, and
daytime sleepiness. A non-visual part of the retina uses daylight
to synchronize your body's sleep patterns, telling the body when to sleep and when
to get up. It resets the internal body clock and regulates the release of hormones
such as MELATONIN
(the "Body's natural sleeping pill"hormone). Studies on blind
people found that those with damage to the optic nerve (connects eye to brain) were
far more likely to need daytime naps and suffer from daytime sleepiness than blind
people without damage to nerve.
EMF Disturbances
- Cell phone
use before bed. Can have electromagnetic affects on your
brain and the rest of your body that cause insomnia, headaches and confusion;
- Unshielded
wiring in walls / electric clock too close to head / electric blankets in your bedroom.
Such unnatural EMF frequencies have a deleterious effect on cellular
communication in the body.
The Body Electric
Sharing a bed
If either you or your partner suffer from insomnia and share a bedroom,
neither of you is getting the high quality sleep you need for good health.
Parasites
Ammonia (produced by parasites).
Ammonia is a strong brain irritant ornithine curbamyl-transferase, to make the conversion.
Parasite
Cleanses
References Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (January 2001) 86:129-134
