Vital Signs of Insomnia

Although the fact that sleep problems such as insomnia are regular, few GP's ask their patients about insomnia and even fewer provide care recommendations. As a consequence, doctors ought to habitually measure sleep as a key "vital sign" in all surgery visits. Physicians must ask basic questions such as whether the patient has problems falling or staying asleep, how many hours they are sleeping, and whether they feel sleep-deprived. Physicians and patients also need to know that over-the-counter sleep aids, herbal cures, and anti-depressant medications are not effective therapy for insomnia. They must also keep in mind that newer-generation sleeping pills such as Ambien, Sonata, and Lunesta are the best choices as a sleeping pill for short-term insomnia with more than a few new sleeping pills likely to be permitted soon, and that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is more effective than sleeping pills for chronic insomnia without their side effects.

The number of sleep clinics that can analyze and treat patients with sleep problems such as insomnia has grown in number to 2200 centers in 2005, and there are now an equivalent number of board certified sleep medication experts in the United States (there were less than 100 twenty years ago.) Unfortunately, only a tiny number of these sleep specialists have expertise in CBT, and there are only quite a few hundred psychologists world-wide with expertise in CBT.

Sleep is becoming more and more familiar as an important vital sign. As a consequence, more treatments for sleep disorders are becoming obtainable, as are the number of professionals on hand to diagnose and treat sleep disorders.