英伦广角 2012-10-06 给失眠症患者的健康建议

 For the last 15 years, Sheila Fitzpatrick has struggled to get a good night sleep. She used to take sleeping pills that she bought over the counter from the chemist but they didn't work for long. Her anxiety about becoming dependent on tablets just made her insomnia¹ worse. She now uses an online sleep program that works for her and would never go back to medication.

        I was in despair really, having taken pills in knowing I shouldn't be putting chemicals in my body. I thought seriously suicide² to be honest because I couldn't say how I could draggle on all my life when I was failing.

        Pharmacists are now warning insomnia suffers about the dangers of treating sleep problems themselves. According to a new survey 30% of people with insomnias have taken sleeping remedies for longer than a month without getting any medical advice. 14% have taken them for longer than six months. And 18% have no idea how long they’ve been on medication.

        If you have a long-term sleeping problem, if you last longer than a month, for the majority of those cases that's possibly underlining medication condition and that could be a mental health problem like depression, remind even be a physical symptom like asthma³. So we like people to talk to their pharmacists and get really good advice about what their underlining condition might be.

        Sleeping pills treat the symptoms but not the cause. Pharmacists are urging the one in three people who suffer from insomnia to seek help and only use pills as a last result.

        Thomas Moore, Sky News.

1 insomnia   

n.失眠，失眠症

参考例句：

• Worries and tenseness can lead to insomnia.忧虑和紧张会导致失眠。
• He is suffering from insomnia.他患失眠症。

2 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

3 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。