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INSOMNIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 644 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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INSOMNIA , or deprivation of See also:

sleep (See also:Lat. See also:somnus), a See also:common and troublesome feature of most illnesses, both acute and chronic. It may be due to See also:pain, See also:fever or cerebral excitement, as in See also:delirium tremens, or to organic changes in the See also:brain. The treatment, when failure to sleep occurs in connexion with a definite illness, is See also:part of the treatment of that illness. But there is a See also:form of sleeplessness not occurring during illness to which the See also:term " insomnia " is commonly and conveniently applied. It must not be confounded with occasional wakefulness caused by some See also:minor discomfort, such as indigestion, nor with the " See also:bad nights " of the valetudinarian. Real insomnia consists in the prolonged inability to obtain sleep sufficient in quantity and quality for the See also:maintenance of See also:health. It is a See also:condition of See also:modern See also:urban See also:life, and may be regarded as a malady in itself. It is a potent See also:factor in causing those See also:nervous breakdowns ascribed to " overwork." It may occur as a sequel to some exhausting illness, notably See also:influenza, which affects the nervous See also:system See also:long after convalescence. But it very often occurs without any such cause. Professional and business men are the most frequent sufferers. Insomnia is comparatively rare among the poor, who do little or no brain See also:work. It may be brought on by some exceptional See also:strain, by long-continued worry, or by sheer overwork.

The broad See also:

pathology is See also:simple enough. It has been demonstrated by exact observations that in sleep the See also:blood leaves the brain automatically.

End of Article: INSOMNIA

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