Sleep - why and how important it is - non-drug treatments for insomnia

Researchers are getting closer to establishing why we need to sleep and its overall importance in health.

Getting proper sleep is associated with improved learning and memory. Researchers have found that during sleep the brain is able to remove waste products much more efficiently than while awake; this may be a vital purpose.

In addition these products can cause inflammation, the excess of which is associated with Alzheimer's disease and heart attacks. In a recent study looking a aiding sleep without drugs, it was found that use of the relaxation and sleep techniques was associated with significant decreases in inflammation and improvement in health.

They used Cognitive Behavior Therapy (which has become very useful in many psychological disturbances) and Tai Chi Chih.

They recommended that older — and probably all — patients with insomnia should be offered one of these evidence-based treatments and should probably be monitored for depression and medical consequences of inflammation.

So if you can't sleep maybe its time you looked into these methods!