SLEEPLESSNESS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 18 April 1891, Page 4

SLEEPLESSNESS.

Ko deprivation can possibly equal that of loss of steep, so fraught is it with mental and physical exhaustion. Sleeplessness, or insomnia, is connected with a number of disorders, ,-nd may either be a symptom of (•ir.ep.P2 \v:.il rccojnistd or a temporary disturbance ; but in all cr.ncs there is more or less cc i;:;c3t''_T., cr c-ihur disturbance of the lt>lor<tl-circulation of the brain. In some forms of dyspepsia it is closely connected wit!) Vivstevia, and general nervousness. In B«ch irru/.i of wakefulness the patients are ceizecl with sudce:i and voracious hunger, a ser.st:j.in ot" gnawing at the pit of the sic:r..\c I .i, a.ntl fain.ness. In other cases the sleep i:i«'.y ba of such a character as to caiuj iitc individual to awaken in the morninj quits unrefreshed. It is heavy — almost iin.oiv.iiir.g to stupor — and disturbed by drs;i!..-i. In other cases the patient lies awake for a long time after he retires, his brain bs:r.,7 preternaturally active, and ideas are evolved with startling rapidity. The senses are all acutely alive; every sound is exaggerated and distorted by the individual's excited imagination. The head is hot, the heart beats violently, the feet are cold, rind he tosses from side to side. This form depends ".suaJJy. UDon overwork and mental excitement The impression of some disagreeable idea, or some anxious care, will cause such a person great misery. He starts violently, or awakes again and again. The stupid, heavy sleep previously spoken of depends usually upon a hearty meal taken just before going to bed. A close, badly-aired room, or one in which the plumbing arrangements are bad, will produce wakefulnes.s, and, as a result, a headache follows in the morning. . t In an excallent article' in the Practitioner Dr. Symons Eccles says : — " With regard to the various means used to induce restful sleep in those who had lost it, except when under the influence of one or other of the many narcotics, or who obtained rest only at rare intervals and. at short periods, it will be noticedihat ttiey.are for the most part old and familiar friends, whose value has been recognised and efficacy tircved in both this country and abroad ; put so far as my search has* been prosecuted, I have been unable to find any suggestions as to their respective applicability In the different disorders of sleep, though nearly all the methods employed have been described and extolled by many valuable 1 hypnotic agents. • .'.."• ="' " Now, without desiring to lay down any bard and fast rule in regard to the use of . mechanical or hydro-therapeutical agents for the relief of ' bad sleepers,' and while still Retiring for other means to effect a good/ result where these have failed, one's ex..perience goes to show that where some one pr more are powerful for good in one class ■of case, they appear to be useless, indeed harmful, in others. -.'>■ \ " There are some persons who, though not suffering from actual wakefulness, complain that they ' constantly dream,' sleep .very restlessly, and wake up unrefreshed 'after a night of general discomfort, sometimes attended by one or more attacks of '.nightmare. These conditions have been associated with dyspeptic or gouty symp'•toms, and have been observed also in [patients suffering from chronic joint affections and sciatica, in which the local pain {has not been sufficiently severe to inhibit sleep altogether. = > i "In attempting to overcome the partial functional activity ot the brain, with appears |to exist with and account for this dream-Jladen»-.unrefreshing form of sleep, one has wet-packing, abdominal com- *- (presses, cold bathing, elevation of the head *iby means; of extra pillows, and the application of warmth to the extremities by means 'of hot bottles or bags, with very variable fand, generally speaking, little success ; but fa hot hgrtb, taken immediately before the itime arwhich one wishes the patient to [settle quietly for the night, has proved jmost valuable in producing a dreamless jsleep, although not usually of longer duration than four hours without intermission, 'afcid sometimes followed by a period of 'great wakefulness, relieved only by a short jmorning doze ; still, everywhere this someuncomfortable vigil supervenes, the .patient always feels more refreshed and the next day than after a long k t^ght,Qf < .uneasy dreaming sleep." " forms of troubled sleep connected .with somnambulism and nightmare are too rfamiliar to need description. Exposure to the sun during the day will often give rise to headache and sleeplessness, which are sometimes precursors of disease of the ■ brain. In fact, if wakefulness is connected 'Vss!g"\other nervous symptoms which are manifested for some time, we have reason for alarm. There is.no rule which can be laid down as arbitrary regarding the amount of sleep , rgquired by any individual. Old people do -"hot require as much as those of younger years, so it is a natural consequence, to. find that peopfe of advanced life awaken at ;an early hour in the morning, while children ' whose nervous system is being developed ;must have ten or twelve, hours' sound sleep. : Treatment. — As sleeplessness so often deipenda,. upon a .congested condition of the. 1 brain* it will be/ well tq examine,) into 'the pauses of such a condition. Mental labour {has been spoken of as being a case of this I kind. In such cases work should be put ' aside as.hour or two before; .- bedtime and agreeabfe;^ diversions resorted to. Sometimesvv^hQn the individual has spent hi* time reading beneath a glaring gas-jet which heats his head,- it will be found that if he seeks a 'seat away from the light, or if he bathes his head in cold water, the evil consequences may be avoided. A brisk walk or gymnastic, exercises of a modeiate kind before bedtimtf. will so equalise the blood pressure as to relieve the excited and congested brain. In some pases where there jj [ excessive sluggishness of ideas^and stupidity .lasting through the evening* a-glals of ale' or ibeer before retiring will secure refreshing §leep. Bad ventilation is a very important cause df, sleeplessness, and the windpws ol - the bedrdem should be opened even-if the . room. . becomes coidf. Hearty meals taker late in' fff£«tey or at night, cause, in some persons, a want of. sleep, and therefore should be discontinued. In this connection Ijqwould call attention to the pernicious hajj\t of drinking sweet beverages or eating jiist-;befpre .-I^-time, so commonly and frequently indulged in by young persons and children. A cold bath is advised by .V -Doctor Flint as a remedy which often acf: complisljyes j .much good, and may be' triec in some* cases. In old persons it will be found that a half-teaspoonful of Hoffman's anodyne in a wine-glassful of cold water will often bring refreshing sleep, but, as a rule, the use of anodynes is to be deprecated. Tincture of lupulin, in teaspoonful doses, or the bromide of potassium in twenty-grain doses, are the least harmful of all drugs of this kind, but even these should not be habitually taken; In conclusion, a word of caution must b« given to those who resort to opium or morphine for the production- of sleep. The pernicious effects which follow the habitual ' aabits of these drugs are deplorable. The " opium habit" is sure to be contracted in the majority of cases. Regulation of daily life, appetite, and digestion; exercise in [fresh air said avoidance of excitement are, 'after all, the best safeguards against sleeplosmess