Related topics: sleep · sleep disorders

Altering pH bumps prions out of danger zone

Prion diseases are scary, incurable and fatal. They first gained notoriety when cows became infected by prion proteins and, in turn, infected people. Fervor surrounding mad cow disease resulted in the U.S. banning imports ...

Revising the meaning of 'prion'

A team of Whitehead Institute and Stanford University scientists are redefining what it means to be a prion—a type of protein that can pass heritable traits from cell to cell by its structure instead of by DNA.

Fear of terror may lead to job burnout over time

Terrorist attacks around the world continue to grow in scope and severity. In the aftermath of such attacks, authorities are usually quick to address the needs of victims and their relatives. But what about terrorism's impact ...

Hong Kong light pollution 'one of world's worst'

Hong Kong is one of the world's worst cities for light pollution with night skies around 1,000 times brighter than globally accepted levels, researchers said Wednesday ahead of this year's Earth Hour event.

Insomnia

Insomnia is a symptom of any of several sleep disorders, characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. Insomnia is a symptom, not a stand-alone diagnosis or a disease. By definition, insomnia is "difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or both" and it may be due to inadequate quality or quantity of sleep. It is typically followed by functional impairment while awake. Both organic and non-organic insomnia without other cause constitute a sleep disorder, primary insomnia.

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services in the year 2007, approximately 64 million Americans regularly suffer from insomnia each year. Insomnia is 1.4 times more common in women than in men.

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