In the recent years, many people have been experiencing insomnia and we talked to Odontsetseg.G,PhD,Vice Director of Otoch Manramba University, Consultant of Manba Datsan Hospital. Odontsetseg.G tells us about the prevention and treatment of insomnia in traditional Mongolian medicine.
–Lets start our talk with general causes of insomnia?
-Basically, insomnia is caused by the disturbed state of wind element, one of the 3 humors. The characteristic features of wind element are light, rough, cold, subtle, hard and mobile but characters such as light and mobile are at greater risk of being disturbed. Such characters can be the main source of insomnia and are disturbed by frustration, depression and even emotional meltdown. Insomnia can also be caused by being overly emotional, entertainment, watching television and working on the computer at night, while the moon is out. Human body is in perfectly sync with nature, stars, sun and has its own biological rhythms, and we must sleep between 23:00-05:00. By not following our biological rhythms and staying awake during these hours will cause not only insomnia, but many other disorders. It is important to go to sleep at regular times and try to clear your mind of negative thoughts. When we are asleep, wind channels managing our senses such as touching and waking up are accumulated in our hearts, where the principle conscience or known as namshe in Tibetan term, lies. Based on it, there are many theories indicating the harmful effects on being woken up abruptly from mid-sleep and many more.
–What other disorders can be caused by insomnia?
-Firstly, Insomnia can disturb the above mentioned characters of wind element. Subsequently, it will cause disturbed states of combination of bile and phlegm elements. It begins with causing damage to the heart, which is associated with wind element, and then followed by disturbed state of principle wind channels resulting in being emotionally unstable and absent-minded. Moreover, when the wind element adheres to the bones, it will cause numbness, sudden pain, tinnitus, dizziness, blurry vision as well as damage to the digestive system. Especially, it can cause damage to the colon, resulting in abdominal bloating and distension as well decrease in ability to work etc.
–Are there any disorders that may increase the chances of having insomnia?
-Yes, there are. During certain stages of some illnesses, insomnia may arise. For instance: during a heart disease, arthritis, bone disease, cold disorders associated with kidneys and combined hot disorders of wind and bile elements and contagious diseases, insomnia can occur.
–What are the best natural home remedies that may help us to fall asleep?
-It is important to sleep at regular times and refrain from doing activities such as reading and watching unpleasant stuff, talk or ponder and try to be calm before you go to bed. If you are having trouble with falling asleep, don’t just get up in the middle of the night to continue your work, have midnight snack or even watch television. Remember to calm yourself down and try to fall asleep even though it may seem hard. Running errands during nighttime hours can have negative effect on your health. Warm cow’s milk is the best solution if you’re having trouble sleeping. If you find yourself with increased state of phlegm in stomach and weakened digestive heat, try adding honey in the milk as it doesn’t have negative effect on stomach. If you are confident that you have a healthy stomach, try adding small amount of butter in the milk as it stabilizes wind element. Some of the patients with insomnia at Manba Datsan Hospital admit that they choose alcohol, believing that drinking alcohol helps them drop-off to sleep. Alcohol does allow people to fall asleep quicker as its warm and hot characteristics help dilating the blood vessels for a while, but it increases the rough and mobile qualities of wind element, resulting in trouble with sleeping. Therefore, alcohol is not recommended for those with insomnia. Ears are mostly associated with wind element, try massaging inside and outside of your ears and around your chin with butter. Also, try massaging your sacrum and coccyx area with butter as it is the pathway for descending wind element and it should help you have deep sleep.
–Our bodies are believed to cleanse itself during night hours, and staying awake during those hours can have serious effect on our bodies. Is there any truth to it?
-Rather than cleansing itself, our bodies run its internal metabolism during night hours. The food that we take during the day break down at night, so eating during night hours is not ideal as it may slow down the metabolism, causing many other illnesses. Lately, I see lot of people not having any meal after 20:00pm, which I think is quite right. I would recommend milk or yoghurt rather than heavy food, before going to bed. You know what they say, “water is not ideal before sleeping”. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend having lot of drinks either. In traditional Mongolian medical theory, the food that we intake turn into waste products within a day. The refined part of nutritional essence is transformed into blood within a day, and subsequently the refined part of blood is transformed into muscle tissue, the refined part of muscle tissues are transformed into fat, the refined part of fat is transformed into bone, the refined part of bone is transformed into bone marrow and the refined part of bone marrow is transformed into regenerative fluid and the whole cycle lasts for a week. Therefore, going to sleep at regular hours and eating healthy is highly recommended.
–Manba Datsan Hospital is known for treating patients with insomnia effectively. What are the therapies that you offer?
-The hospital has been admitting many patients with chronic insomnia. The treatments that we offer here have been very effective and are complex. Firstly, we offer herbal medicines and then diagnose which internal organ has been associated with wind element long enough that it needs specific treatment. Stabilizing state of wind element is crucial. Moxibustion, acupuncture, medicinal bath and soup are amongst many other therapies that we offer. Steam therapy is one of the effective ones too. These therapies have been very beneficial for the patients with insomnia at our hospital.
–Seniors are more likely to suffer from insomnia, but lately many children are affected by it too. What are the possible health risks for children with insomnia?
-We all have wind element in our bodies, regardless of our age but somehow we all encounter certain conditions that brings excess nature of wind disorders. Most children are spending more time on computer games and watching television at night hours and it disturbs state of wind element. I think parents should have their children in bed by 21:00-22:00. As I mentioned before, going to sleep at these hours will help them to be healthier. We all should learn about this. Unhealthy lifestyles will keep us out of sync with nature and eventually fall ill. We obtain energy from sleep, just like we do from food.
–Many people believe that sleeping during the day is harmful for our bodies, and some say otherwise. What are your thoughts on this matter?
-Sleeping during the day is not ideal. By doing so, bile and phlegm elements in our bodies get disturbed by the energy from the sun, resulting in many disorders including edema. However, there are certain individuals should be taking a nap during the day. For instance, ladies who just gave birth and breastfeeding their babies, infants, seniors aged over 70 with imbalanced state of wind elements, and those suffering from serious illnesses with weakened immune system. Also, those working night shifts must take at least 1-2 hours of nap before noon. You shouldn’t be carrying on working if you didn’t sleep the night before. I hope it explains the importance of having enough sleep.
–Many individuals still feel exhausted, even after getting adequate sleep. What do you think about it?
-Technically, we should be getting enough energy from sleeping at regular times. If you still feel tired after that, I think there’s possibility of certain disorder in you. One should be getting enough rest from sleep. If the problem persists, I would highly recommend seeing a specialist and get help.