Patients with insomnia who are diagnosed with accompanying mental health ailments often are not prescribed medication that will help them sleep – which could then make related anxiety or depression worse, new research suggests.

In one of the largest epidemiologic studies of insomnia among adolescents ever conducted in the United States, a study published in the February 1 issue of the journal SLEEP allows for an estimation of the impact of chronic insomnia on future functioning of adolescents.

Individuals with either current or past insomnia are more likely to report a family history of insomnia than are those who have never had the sleep disorder, according to a study published in the December 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

Sleep disorders are common and poorly understood. In humans, narcolepsy is a sleep disorder associated with sleepiness, abnormal dreaming, paralysis and insomnia. Neuropeptides called hypocretins are implicated in this disorder.

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have hooked a fish that suffers from insomnia in their quest to understand the genetics behind sleep disorders.

A new drug for people who keep waking at night or wake up early and can't go back to sleep is being investigated by medical researchers.

A study in Sleep and Biological Rhythms published by Wiley-Blackwell, the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., reveals that watching television and using the Internet before sleep causes sleep problems – not only among the younger set, but also among the middle-aged and older media users.

An international team of researchers has identified the first gene associated with Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), a common sleep disorder affecting tens of millions of people worldwide. The findings will be published July 18 in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine and will appear in an upcoming printed edition of the journal.

Everyone has an occasional night of bad sleep. For most people, insomnia lasts only a few days and goes away without treatment. However, factors such as stress can cause a higher level of insomnia that may last for several weeks. This kind of insomnia may not go away on its own, and can lead to both short- and long-term health problems if left untreated.

A study published in the July 1st issue of the journal SLEEP finds that large segments of the U.S. population use valerian or melatonin to treat their insomnia.

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) affects almost half of those ascending to heights over 3,000m and may lead to life-threatening complications such as pulmonary or cerebral edema. A new study appearing in Journal of Travel Medicine details a prospective on-site study in the Himalayas between July and October 2004 in which the knowledge and practices concerning AMS were examined amongst trekkers.

Two studies presented today demonstrated that ROZEREM did not affect body sway at peak plasma levels, nor did it impair middle-of-the-night balance, mobility or memory performance in patients who suffer from chronic insomnia. The results of the studies were presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).