Amrita Tripathi, New Delhi: A recent study in US found that women are more prone to insomnia or sleeplessness than men. Doctors say that a lot of workingwomen in particular suffer from insomnia in India.

Doctors also say that insomnia has become a lifestyle disorder with studies suggesting that people in cities worldwide are making up with one hour less of sleep than they need, every night.

So what exactly is insomnia?

“There are two things in insomnia; difficulty to initiate and maintain sleep. You are not able to get into cycle and then you are not able to maintain the sleep,” says sleep physician, Dr P P Bose.

Whether it is chronic or short-term insomnia, stress plays a huge role. Sometimes it is job-related, sometimes it is relationship stress, but it is a vicious cycle.

Doctors say at least one in three people will suffer from insomnia at some point.

So how much sleep is enough for you?

“For every 16 hours of alertness you need eight hours of sleep which amounts to saying, for two hours of alertness you need one hour of sleep,” says Dr Bose.

There are also long-term health consequences of lack of sleep.

Says Dr Bose, “The health effects are tremendous including cardio-vascular, young heart attacks, asthma, obesity and metabolic syndrome. They are all related to sleep deprivation.”

So what can you do to contain insomnia or prevent it from getting worse?

Apart from trying to cut down on stress, look at your diet like avoiding coffee. Drink a glass of milk at night.

Exercise and yoga also helps.

And one more thing should be kept in mind. Experts agree that your brain doesn't need extra stimulation at night, which means you have to give up watching TV at night.