Treatment of insomnia

Changing some habits and eliminate the causes of insomnia helps to restore healthy sleep many people. Improving sleep hygiene Dreams: how to understand our dreams For example, development of habits and go up in the same time, can significantly improve sleep. If these methods do not help, your doctor may recommend intake of sleeping pills.

Behavioral therapy

The task of behavioral therapy - to instill human habits that improve sleep. It is, however, and in some cases even more effective than hypnotics. Typically, behavioral therapy is indicated for the treatment of insomnia Treatment of insomnia - medical or therapeutic?   Firstly.

The concept of behavioral therapy for insomnia include:

• Learning good sleep hygiene.
• Relaxation techniques Relaxation and stress - calm, not panic! . Progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback and breathing exercises are an effective means to reduce stress before bedtime. These techniques help to control breathing, heart rate, muscle tension and mood.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy - replacing worries about poor sleep positive thoughts. Cognitive behavioral therapy is performed both individually and in group sessions.
• "Stimulating control" - limiting the time you spend in bed awake.
• Restricting sleep time. This method involves the restriction of sleep, which causes mild sleep deprivation. Thanks to this man will feel more tired the next morning. As soon as sleep will improve sleep duration can be gradually increased.
• Light therapy - the use of light for the "adjustment" of its internal clock.

Medications

If behavioral therapy does not help to cope with insomnia, the patient can be assigned to receive prescription sleeping pills such as zolpidem (Ambien), zaleplon or ramelteon (Rozerem). They are very effective, but in rare cases, these drugs can cause a severe allergic reaction, swelling of the face, and unusual behavior, including the fulfillment of a dream of action characteristic of the waking state. The side effects of sleeping pills is usually more pronounced in the elderly; Among these effects - excessive sleepiness, cognitive function disorders, walking in his sleep, arousal and problems with the vestibular apparatus.

Typically, doctors do not recommend taking prescription sleeping pills for longer than a few weeks, but some of the new drugs can be taken indefinitely. However, some sleeping pills, even considered the safest, can be addictive.

People who have insomnia developed against a background of depression Depression - a little more than a bad mood May be prescribed antidepressants with sedative effects, such as trazodone, mirtazapine and doxepin.

Other treatments

Suffering from insomnia will be useful to understand the following habits:

• Do not try to fall asleep. The more you try to sleep, the less likely that you succeed. Stand with blood, read, watch TV, do something else, and go back to bed only when you want to sleep.
• The bed should be a place only for sleep and sex. Remove from the bedroom television, not to bring a laptop, books, phone.
• Do not sleep during the day. If you think that you can not do without it, limit nap time to half an hour and did not sleep after three hours of the day.
• Exercise for at least twenty minutes, no less than five times a week.
• Each day walk in the fresh air.
• Limit your intake of caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.
• Find a way to relax before going to bed. Take a bath, meditate, listen to music, read - create your bedtime ritual that will configure you to calm and relaxation.

Symptoms of purulent meningitis caused by other types of infections

In most cases, purulent meningitis is still a secondary character. So the most common pneumococcal meningitis and influenza, meningitis, are most common in young children, develop against bronchitis, pneumonia and otitis media.

The most serious form of purulent meningitis - pneumococcal runs very hard, the type of meningoencephalitis, with a high fever, severe meningeal, cerebral and neurological disorders. Until a few decades ago, the infant mortality rate in this type of purulent meningitis was equal to almost 100%. Today, these have learned to treat meningitis. However, the meningitis and today often leaves behind consequences of epilepsy, hydrocephalus and paresis.

Haemophilus influenzae meningitis Meningitis - an inflammation of the meninges   (influenza, meningitis) and develops mainly in young children. Proceeds it is not as hard as pneumococcal and "loves" weakened children with low birth weight, have had rickets Rickets - all about vitamins Frequent episodes of colds, etc. Starts influenza, meningitis, acute with high fever, headache, and vomiting, but then becomes a protracted course with periods of deterioration and improvement. If the patient is not scheduled early treatment, the death of his step on the third or fourth week of illness. With proper treatment, the prognosis is favorable, residual effects are rare.

Staphylococcal purulent meningitis - one of the most difficult, because it is accompanied by abscess formation - the formation of a clear demarcation of purulent cavities. Staphylococcal meningitis is often associated with sepsis and abscess formation in the development of all organs and tissues. Forecast heavy mortality rate of 20-50%.

Purulent meningitis in newborns most often caused by hemolytic streptococcus, or Escherichia coli. Infection occurs when passing from mother to child through the birth canal. However, newborn can get an infection in the hospital - most often it is Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus. All kinds of purulent meningitis occur in newborns is extremely difficult, and the effect of physiological hyper Gipertonus: a sign of the disease   (muscle tension) to put the diagnosis is not easy. Attention is drawn to the refusal of the child from the breast, shouting groundless and promptly seek medical attention.

Complications purulent meningitis

Complications from purulent meningitis uncommon. And the effects are more common in children purulent meningitis Meningitis in children - a dangerous disease Especially in young children and the elderly.

All complications purulent meningitis can be divided into early and late. Early complications - a thrombosis of blood vessels, septic shock, endocarditis, purulent lesions of the internal organs, respiratory distress syndrome associated with severe hypoxia and so on.

By late complications include seizures, hydrocephalus (water on the brain), paresis, paralysis, dementia, blindness, deafness, and others.

Diagnostics

The diagnosis of meningitis can be put on the basis of examination of the patient. But this is not enough to prescribe adequate treatment is necessary to know the cause of the disease. This will help to further lab tests.

In general, the analysis of the patient's blood purulent meningitis in the first day there is a large number of neutrophilic leukocytes (leukocytosis) - is one of the signs of purulent infection. In the future, this figure does not decrease, whereas the serous meningitis leukocytosis in a few days is replaced by lymphocyte (white blood cells including lymphocytes predominate). Some time later appears accelerated ESR, which is held in high numbers to the end of the disease.

But the main source of information for purulent meningitis is a condition of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) taken by puncture of the spinal cord. Liquor with purulent meningitis cloudy, flows under pressure. The study of cellular composition reveals the presence of pleocytosis (increased content of cell elements, the norm - up to five cells in 1 mm) 1,000 - 15,000 cells in 1 mm. As part of the cell is dominated by neutrophils (with serous meningitis Lymphocytic pleocytosis).

If necessary, the patient relation to the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which allows you to identify, for example, abscesses in the cranial cavity.

Treatment

First of all, to facilitate the patient's condition it is carried out a lumbar puncture - removal of a certain volume of CSF takes intracranial pressure and relieves the patient.

Treatment of purulent meningitis should be complex. Appointed antibaterialnaya therapy, diuretics (they contribute to a reduction in intracranial pressure), detoxification (via intravenous drip drug solutions from the body toxins are removed).

If you suspect a purulent meningitis should immediately consult your doctor.

Galina Romanenko