The risk of suffering from insomnia is 67 percent higher if a family member is insomniac

The research team, directed by Dr. Charles M. Morin of Université Laval's School of Psychology, came to these conclusions following a study involving 3,485 people. The participants were asked to answer a telephone survey on their sleep quality and that of their immediate families. On three separate occasions in the 12 subsequent months, they filled out a mail-in questionnaire on the subject.

The data showed that 40% of respondents came from a family that had at least one member who is an insomniac. Most of them had one insomniac in the family (76%), but some had two (21%), or even three (3%). The risk of suffering from insomnia increased according to the number of family members with insomnia, i.e., 37%, 250%, and 314% for one, two, or three family members with insomnia, respectively.

“There is very probably a genetic factor behind the family aggregation we observed,” said Charles M. Morin. “However, we don't know if the mechanism is a physiological process that interferes with sleep or a predisposition to anxiety.” Certain attitudes about insomnia conveyed by family members could also be involved, the researcher added. “When we see a member of our family react strongly to an episode of insomnia, we may have the same reaction when faced with the problem ourselves. This type of behavior can transform situational insomnia into a chronic condition,” he noted.

“Our study's results suggest that early psychological treatment could benefit people from families with chronic insomnia sufferers,” concluded Dr. Morin.

Apart from Charles M. Morin, the co-authors of the study are Mélanie LeBlanc, Hans Ivers, Josée Savard, Lynda Bélanger, and Chantal Mérette.

About the World Congress on Sleep Medicine

Over 1,200 specialists from some fifty countries attend the 4th World Congress on Sleep Medicine in Quebec City, from September 10 to 14, to discuss the most recent developments and discoveries in sleep disorder research. The event is organized jointly by the World Association of Sleep Medicine and the Canadian Sleep Society. The detailed program is available at www.wasmonline.org.

Media Contact

Jean-François Huppé EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.ulaval.ca

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors