Insomnia plagues middle-aged women.

Nearly one-fourth of midlife women report that they have insomnia--a rate twice as high as in younger females. A common assumption is that sleeping difficulties are an inevitable and unwelcome consequence of going through menopause, notes Joan L. Shaver, professor and co-director of the Center for Women's Health Research at the University of Washington.

Hormone changes alone are not the culprit, she maintains. Her research revealed that "Women reporting insomnia who also demonstrated abnormal physical sleep patterns experienced the most intense menopausal symptoms (hot flashes), but didn't necessarily report physiological distress or other bodily symptoms." Abnormal physical sleep patterns included taking longer to fall asleep, having more awake time during the sleep period, and having lighter, more transitional, and more fragmented sleep than found in females with normal physical sleep patterns.

"Women reporting insomnia, but who had normal physical sleep patterns, reported high psychosocial distress, fatigue, and muscle aches. Further, negative life events and negative social contacts predicted the psychological distress...