Insomnia: Causes, Side Effects, Treatment

Insomnia is indeed the most prevalent sleep disorder in the world. Nearly one-third of all adults have a background of some type of insomnia and nearly ten percent have persistent sleepless nights. The disease can be defined by its time duration and is categorized by three types of sleepless nights: transient, short-term, and chronic.

Different Types of Insomnia

Transient or short-term sleepless nights originate from similar factors, while short-term sleepless nights generally require a considerable disturbance. Transient sleepless nights can be suggestive of a sleepless night that lasts from only one night to several weeks and is most likely related to alterations in the sleep schedule, such as traveling or sleeping in unusual surroundings. Short-term sleepless nights last a relatively longer period of time, usually from two to three weeks in time and can be linked to emotional influences such as anxiety or stress.

Chronic sleepless nights, the most severe type of sleeplessness, occur essentially every night and can last a month or more.

Side Effects of Sleepless Nights

Recent reports show that sleepless nights are more than a nuisance. In fact, insomnia can lead to serious health problems such as high blood pressure. Indeed, people who sleep fewer than five hours a night are more than five times more at risk at developing hypertension than people who sleep well.

Dr. Alexandros Vgontzas, a lead researcher who studied sleepless nights at Penn State College of Medicine, which is located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, studied the possible relationship between stress hormones and high blood pressure. The results of the study confirmed the theory that patients who suffer from decreased sleep efficiency more possibly might suffer from hypertension as well.

Dr. Vgontzas studied the tie between sleep problems and increased blood pressure in over fifteen hundred people who were randomly selected volunteer participants. The volunteers classified themselves as being either normal sleepers, those who had some difficulty sleeping or as being afflicted with sleepless nights.

The study members were separated in accordance with their sleep productivity, which was determined by surveying the sum of the hours they slept per night. The results suggested that a mixture of low aggregate sleep duration and sleepless nights including waking up in the night or even having difficulty getting to sleep on a lasting basis - were actually linked to hypertension.

Sleeplessness Related Hypertension Also Linked to Teens

Teenagers who slept less than six and a half hours nightly experienced more than twice the likelihood of developing high blood pressure, according to a research study conducted at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. The study was published in the American Heart Association Journal Circulation, and the researchers discovered a pattern that was not withstanding sex, weight and socioeconomic status.

The study broke ground by showing the relationship between low quality sleep and the risk of hypertension development as well as other health issues, said Dr. Susan Redline, a pediatrician researcher who led the study. Dr. Redline also noted that poor sleep might be more consistently related with pre-hypertension than a shorter sleep period.

For further reading, refer to the Health Science News article Insomnia Increases Chances of Diabetes in Young.

Risks of High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a serious illness that can lead to damage to the arteries and kidneys and can cause stroke, kidney disease and various other illnesses.

High Blood Pressure Medication Can Cause Insomnia

Widespread causes for sleepless nights exist. Occasionally the cause is apparent. There are certain medical causes for sleeplessness, plus some mental health illnesses that include depression, anxiety or chronic stress. Additionally, as patients are treated with high blood pressure medicine for their hypertension, the result could be something that is counterproductive to their lack of sleep problems as well. Some medications for high blood pressure, decongestants and antidepressants are well known to cause sleepless nights, which can result in a snowball effect to the patient's insomnia-related hypertension.

Treatment of Insomnia

The most commonly thought of treatment for sleepless nights is sleeping pills, but there are indeed non-medical therapies that are comparatively better in the long term and work more efficiently than sleeping pills. Sleeplessness treatment is sometimes classified into two different groups: treatment with or without medication.

Sleepless Night - Treatment with Medication

There are many self-prescribed sleep aids such as alcohol that actually increase the sleepless symptoms and have limited benefit. A pretty small extent of alcohol can be relaxing and result in sleepiness early in the evening, but can result in a re-bound effect that can occur later in the evening as illustrated with difficulty sleeping. And, extended alcohol abuse can result in tolerance as well as dependence, which may lead to other medical problems.

Lifestyle Changes to Reduce Sleepless Nights

Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and "recreational" drugs are well-known causes of sleepless nights. A healthy lifestyle, which includes a consistent workout regimen, a well-rounded diet, as well as a less stressful lifestyle are recommended to reduce the nagging effects of sleepless nights. As with any health issue, it is recommended that you consult a professional health care provider if you are experiencing sleepless nights and are concerned about the causes of sleepless nights, the side effects and treatment of insomnia.

Viagra Benefits Women on Antidepressants

Pfizer released Viagra in 1998 for men, and not long afterwards, Pfizer began to study its use for women. In a recent blog entry, editors at Health Science News discussed Viagra and women, the pros and cons of Viagra and women, in addition recently it has been revealed in other studies that documentation points to the success of Viagra in the female population.

Women With Depression Benefit from Viagra

Women who are suffering from depression may also have the unpleasant side effect of decreased libido. The women examined in these recent studies were in their pre-menopausal years and were also being treated for their depression with anti-depressant medication. It is important to note, however, that the women's depression was in remission.

Leading researcher of sexual medicine at the Alvarado Hospital, which is located in San Diego California, Dr. Goldstein has treated women by prescribing Viagra, and he noted that there are a lot of similarities between men and women regarding their sexual drive.

Study Reveals Hope for Women Who Suffer From Depression and Decreased Sex Drive

The study conducted separated women participants into two different groups, one group which was asked to take the drug Viagra up to two hours prior to sexual activity for a period of eight weeks. The second group of female study participants was given a placebo and both groups were tested.

At the conclusion of the study, it was discovered that over seventy percent of the women who were given Viagra showed increased sexual desire, while only twenty percent of the female participants who were given the placebo showed improvement.

Study Concludes - Testosterone the Key

Dr. Goldstein noted that the key is testosterone levels and as long as women do not have health issues with testosterone, the drug can help them combat reduced libido.

More Studies Back Up Goldstein's Findings

Yet another study, which was conducted in Italy on female diabetics, found similar results - that women with normal testosterone levels were helped with Viagra.

The Director of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, which focuses on Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, Julia R. Heiman, found that sexual side consequences of antidepressants can make such an impact on women's lives that they actually discontinue their use, which can put them at risk for increased depression symptoms.

The study's findings revealed that Viagra could counteract the decreased sexual effects, said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, who is a leading professor of psychiatry at the UCLA medical center. Dr. Leuchter was not involved in the study.

Mixed Reviews

There are mixed reviews on the issue of Viagra and women’s use. A leading endocrinologist, who is chairman of the department of medicine at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, noted that Viagra could possibly not work as efficiently as it did in the studies. Real world results could be less prominent. And the side effects of women who use Viagra are not without notice. For example, some women who took the Viagra drug reported headaches or even flushing. Dr. Glenn Braustein noted that these effects could have affected the study because the participants might have realized that they had taken Viagra due to the side effects, and this realization could have affected their sexual performance.

Dr. Braustein noted that these studies are provocative and stated that he would like to see more studies that could confirm the same results in larger groups of women.

Consult a Professional

Women should be cautioned that rather than asking their partner for a Viagra pill, they should instead consult with a professional if they are considering the pros and cons of Viagra.

For further reading:

• http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-viagra23-2008jul23,0,2061531.story

Sex After Breast Cancer

One of the most frequently diagnosed types of malignant cancer is breast cancer. In fact, in 2006 alone, nearly two hundred and thirteen thousand women were diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. The risk of a woman being diagnosed with the disease within their lifetime is one in eight, or twelve percent.

Cardiovascular Disease More Lethal than Breast Cancer

In comparison, cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke, breast cancer is responsible for fewer deaths. Nevertheless, among many of the cancer diagnoses, breast cancer is probably the one that is most dreaded for a woman. This is most likely due to the fact that this type of cancer impacts so many women who are within the age range of thirty to forty years old. Also, the stigma of this disease is unfortunately connected to a woman's body and the sense of beauty, femininity, and sexuality.

Loss of Sexual Desire After Breast Cancer

It is common for women who have suffered from a breast cancer diagnosis to suffer loss of libido from the treatment of the disease, including chemotherapy, which may result in nausea and fatigue. Additional side effects include vaginal dryness, which has the added disadvantage of causing uncomfortable intercourse. This is due to the drugs that are often prescribed during treatment, such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors.

Communication With Partner

Many breast cancer survivors state that communication with a partner or husband is helpful. Over-the-counter items such as lubricants are beneficial and help combat the dryness. Recommendations for lack of sexual desire include a scheduled date night or romantic dinner on days when the women feels good and has enough energy, such as a week before a chemotherapy treatment plan. Many husbands are sad to see their wife experience fatigue but the fact that energy levels may increase after the treatment is over often helps encourage hope in the relationship. Some patients often benefit from a prescription testosterone gel to replace their libido, although this treatment can have its own risks, therefore, it is recommended that the physician in charge of the patient's treatment be consulted.

Communication With Physician

Regrettably, oncologists sometimes have a difficult time communicating about sexual health with their patients, especially because this area is not usually their main area of expertise. In this case, online research is often beneficial to the patient.

Anti-Depressants and Diminished Sexual Desire

According to two recently published studies, antidepressants may also be responsible for diminished libido. Patients are recommended to consult with their physician about trying Effexor, which is an antidepressant that has been found to have little sexual side effects than the majority of anti-depressants, and also have the benefit of reducing hot flashes in menopausal women.

Foreplay Important

Scientists suggest that foreplay not be neglected. Stimulation of the vagina is important and this can be achieved with foreplay. Sometimes, couples rush the act, and this can become painful for the patient. Also, foreplay can be exciting and reduce stress.

Consult a Professional

If you are suffering with these issues, it is recommended that you seek advise from a doctor or counselor. Sexual health is crucial to the overall mental health and well being of women, but many are afraid to communicate about it and address the issue of sex after breast cancer.

For more information about this topic:

http://www.fhcrc.org/patient/support/survivorship/resources/Healthlink.FemaleSexualDysfunction

Research on Alzheimer's Drug - Rember - Breaking New Ground

Alzheimer's research is an expensive undertaking, but for those with elderly loved ones, the cost is well worth it. Dementia, a disability that is caused by brain disease or injury, which can lead to memory disorders, affects nearly 700,000 people in the UK alone.

Developing an unprecedented drug is a long and costly project that can take up to 15 years and costs nearly 800 million US dollars. The Alzheimer's Association noted that merely five out of ten thousand compounds investigated constitute successful research levels such that they result in clinical trials, and among those, only one of the trials alone makes it through the approval process to receive endorsement for treatment. But a new Alzheimer's drug, called Rember, is gaining popularity among doctors and scientists and is offering hope to patients. Preliminary trials have suggested that the novel drug can evoke life among the worst diseased affected parts of the brain.

New Study Details Alzheimer's Drug Results

The study was presented in Chicago at the International Conference on Alzheimer's illness and it assessed nearly three hundred fifty people who were diagnosed with moderate Alzheimer's in the UK and Singapore. The group was separated into smaller groups, and three were administered the new drug, Rember, while the fourth group took a placebo, a substance that has no therapeutic effect and is only used for testing purposes.

The results were documented and after nearly fifty weeks, the patients with moderate disease afflictions who were being administered the drug, Rember, had experienced less mental decline, even as much as 80 percent less, in comparison to the patients who were given the placebo. Indeed, the patients who were prescribed Rember did not encounter any considerable descent in their mental process for a period well over nineteen months, and the patients who took the placebo showed increased symptoms. The researchers theorize that the drug is relatively two-and-a-half times more productive than existent drugs called cholinesterase inhibitors.

The research study documented images of the brain and indicated that Rember had its largest effect in the areas linked to memory.

More and more people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and the figure is increasing as people live longer. A leading professor of the Alzheimer’s disease Society, Clive Ballard, noted that this study is a major breakthrough in the research of this disease. But he also noted that the research has a tremendous way to go foregoing availability for treatment to patients.

Further Tests of the Alzheimer's Drug - Rember - Will Determine if the Drug is Cost Efficient

If future research studies of Rember are as triumphant, scientists predict that the new drug might be ready for distribution by the next four or five years. And at that point, it will be further assessed by Nice, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which is an independent organization responsible for promoting good health, to determine if the drug, which will most likely be expensive to administer on a daily basis, is cost efficient. The issue at hand will be whether or not the drug, Rember, is advantageous enough to justify the cost for the NHS, the National Health Service, which is the largest public ally funded health service.

Chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Trust, Rebecca Wood, noted that Nice's preliminary cost estimations were distorted because they did not take into consideration the billions a year caring for these patients already costs.

Alzheimer’s Charities Caution That Drug May Not Be Available to Many Due to Cost

Alzheimer’s charities commented that the new drug, which is praised as a distinguished breakthrough in the remedy of the disease, could be withheld from patients by the NHS for reasons such as the expense-per-patient ratio.

Various criteria, however, such as the influence the drug could have on patients’ quality of life, were difficult to put a price on, Wood added. Ms. Wood also mentioned that Nice is examining unreasonable criteria and, provided that this does not change, patients could be negatively affected.

More Alzheimer's Research is Necessary

Researchers comment that the results of this study are preliminary and no definite decisions have been made yet as to the availability of Alzheimer’s drug, Rember.

For further reading:

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/2475162/Patients-could-be-denied-breakthrough-Alzheimers-drug-charities-warn.html
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1039677/Daily-pill-halts-Alzheimers-hailed-biggest-breakthrough-disease-100-years.html
• http://www.news-medical.net/?id=40380

Viagra and Women - Health Issues Investigated

Viagra and Women's Health

Not often is there a medication introduced to the public that has such fast market growth as the drug Viagra. Pfizer's drug, Viagra, was introduced in 1999 and quickly became one of the most widely prescribed medications of our time. But until recently, its use was limited to males.

In the past few weeks, however, The Journal of American Medical Association released a publication, which studied the erectile-dysfunction drug and stated that Viagra use in women can lessen unfavorable sexual effects that may result from antidepressants.

And as expected, the sales of Viagra, which have pretty much remained stale for almost a decade, could increase after the news of this revelation was released to the public.

Researchers Probe Viagra Use For Women

The doctors who conducted the query, from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, deduce that antidepressant regime-associated sexual dysfunction occurs in nearly thirty to seventy percent of patients who are seeking help for major depression. The JAMA passage said it is credible that no trial study has proven an adequate treatment for women suffering from sexual dysfunction resulting from antidepressant drugs.

And researchers revealed that comparatively twenty-eight percent of the women who were administered Viagra showed no improvement, likewise seventy-three percent of women taking a placebo. The study showed no grave adverse effects, however it was noted that up to forty-three percent of the women who took Viagra complained of headaches. Researchers stated that this was worrisome.

The authors recognized women suffer from excessive depressive disorder at almost double the rate of men and also suffer more subsequent sexual dysfunction. The researchers noted that by focusing treatment on the treatment-associated issue it could reduce the likelihood of these women prematurely discontinuing the medication use and increase the possibility of improving the depression disease management.

Pfizer, the world's largest drug producer when measured by sales worldwide, has been battling substantial generic competition that exists for its most widely purchased drugs.

What Can Cause Women's Lack of Sexual Interest?

A woman's deficient sexual enthusiasm is frequently tied to her relationship with her companion, according to Sandra Lieblum, who is the professor for sexual and marital health at the UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, N.J. Lieblum states that women's sexual desire lies in the area between her ears. While men need an occasion for having sex — women need a reason and this evokes the importance of sexual interest for women. But disinterest in sex for women can also be set in motion by family concerns, sickness or death, monetary or job worries, childcare roles, managing a career and children, prior or existing physical and emotional abuse, tiredness and sadness.

Actually, female sexual dysfunction is more often than not psychologically, instead of physically established. Women's desire to have sex is often not due to genital arousal, according to Cindy Meston, assistant professor of clinical psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Meston continues by stating that she does not think there is an aphrodisiac that will shape women's desire to have sex all of the time.

Physical Issues That Reduce Women's Sexual Desire

Lieblum at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey also stated that the causes could be physical, such as hypertension, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, thyroid disorders, neurological diseases and autoimmune disorders like lupus can all evoke a reduction in women's neglect of sexual desire. Additional factors fall under the umbrella of prescriptions drug usage, above all anti-hypertensive and depression medication, including over-the-counter medications and illegal drugs and alcohol misusage.

Is the Use of Viagra by Women Oversimplified?

At New York University School of Medicine, psychologist Leonore Tiefer stated that "industry-funded" studies such as this might oversimplify a women's sexual desire. She stated that the new investigation, which was funded by a Pfizer grant, discovered more side effects than benefits.

Other Studies Involving Antidepressants and Sexual Desire

A previously conducted study involving men who follow an antidepressant regimen discovered more pronounced sexual benefits with Viagra than the benefits found for women, according to senior study author Dr. George Nurnberg, who is a leading psychiatrist at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque.

But the point is that both men and women who require antidepressants and suffer from sexual disinterest may benefit from Viagra, he said. Nurnberg continued that this issue is not about a lifestyle need, but instead about a medical necessity. The drug company, Pfizer, had little or no influence on the design or results of the study, according to Nurnberg. He and many of the other authors disclosed financial ties to Pfizer and varied drug makers.

Women, Antidepressants and Viagra

Women who suffer from sexual side effects during an antidepressant regimen are nearly three times more likely to abruptly stop taking SRIs, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, as are other women on these antidepressants, earlier research showed. And women who participated in the new study continued with their regimen of SRI antidepressants during the eight-week test period. Some SRIs consist of medications such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Lexapro, Celexa and Anafranil.

Study Reviews Mixed

Clinical psychologist and director of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, Julia Heiman, noted that this study was somewhat small with important but moderate effects. It doesn't disclose a broad new prototype for women who have sexual troubles. Within this group of women, this avenue could be somewhat helpful, and could be sufficient to make a change.

Pink Viagra and Women's Health

Meantime, various other studies persist to search for a "pink Viagra," centering on women's prescription usage for testosterone patches, a combination estrogen-testosterone dosage of an antidepressant that acts differently from the SRIs.

If you have questions about women and Viagra, consult your physician for a more detailed health analysis.