Good Sleep is essential to maintain health and attain longevity, whereas poor-quality or insufficient sleep can endanger health and shorten the lifespan. Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, affecting nearly one-third of adults. Insomnia can cause substantial harm to society through direct economic costs, reduced workforce productivity, and increased safety risks. The current seminar will provide a foundational overview of normal sleep and its most common disorder-insomnia through the lens of Western medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
It will cover the following issues:
- A short overview of normal sleep: architecture, regulatory mechanisms, physiological basis, and essential functions.
- Definition and epidemiology of insomnia;
- Mechanism of insomnia in both western medicine and TCM perspective;
- Clinical symptoms and diagnostic criteria;
- The current clinical managements including cognitive behavioural therapy, lifestyle modification, medications and TCM.
During the seminar, group discussion will be also arranged to enable the participants to share the experiences dealing with insomnia during the daily practice.
