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If you have been diagnosed with insomnia, follow your treatment plan and make healthy lifestyle and sleep changes. The following steps can help prevent your insomnia from returning or getting worse.

Lifestyle changes can often help improve short-term insomnia. A type of counseling called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is usually the first treatment recommended for chronic insomnia. Several medicines can also help manage insomnia and help you have a regular sleep schedule. You may need to visit a doctor who specializes in treating sleep problems.

The main symptom of insomnia is trouble falling or staying asleep, even if you have enough time and the right conditions for good sleep. Over time, untreated insomnia may raise your risk of certain health problems or workplace or road accidents.

You may have a higher risk of insomnia because of your age, family history and genetics, environment or occupation (work), lifestyle, stress or worrying about sleep, or your sex.

Common sleep apnea signs and symptoms are snoring or gasping during sleep; reduced or absent breathing, called apnea events; and sleepiness. Undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea prevents restful sleep and can cause complications that may affect many parts of your body.

There are many risk factors for sleep apnea. Some risk factors, such as unhealthy lifestyle habits and environments, can be changed. Other risk factors, such as age, family history and genetics, race and ethnicity, and sex, cannot be changed.

Sleep apnea can be caused by a person’s physical structure or medical conditions. These include obesity, large tonsils, endocrine disorders, neuromuscular disorders, heart or kidney failure, certain genetic syndromes, and premature birth.

Sleep disorders (such as insomnia, sleep apnea, daytime sleepiness, sleep cycle problems, sleep walking, etc.) are common in people with cancer. Learn more about sleep disorders and treatment approaches for them in this expert-reviewed summary.

Sleep disorders (e.g., insomnias, sleep apnea, hypersomnias, parasomnias, and problems with circadian rhythm) are common in people with cancer. Get detailed information about the causes and management of the major sleep disorders in this summary for clinicians.

Khat (Catha edulis) is widely used in East Africa and the Middle East, often in combination with tobacco smoking. Sleep disturbance has been linked with habitual khat use; however, no systematic attempt has been made to test the hypothesis that use of khat and khat and tobacco in combination are related to sleep disturbance. Sleep disturbances are associated with dysregulations in emotional and physiological functions and can increase health risks.