The Literature Review on the Etiologic theory of Insomnia

불면(不眠)의 병인(病因), 치료(治療)에 관한 문헌적(文獻的) 고찰(考察)

This thesis is a literature study about oriental medicine on insomnia. Insomnia is defined as deficiency of sleeping caused by disability of the period of sleeping and lack of recovery of original vital energy. The main causes of insomnia are the dysfunction of the stomach, the wet phlegm, the deficiency of vigor, Qi of the heart, the lack of Yin, the defect of gall bladder or the excessive anxiety and so on, in the oriental medicine. Insomnia patients, in the oriental medicine, is treated by both removing food stagnancy and regulating the vital function of stomach, controlling the wet phlegm, both nourishing the heart and reinforcing the vital energy, providing vital essence to subdue the fire, tonifing both the heart and spleen or warming the gall bladder, etc. The number of insomnia patients shows a tendency to increase by the stresses of modern society and stimulus caused form the unbalance of Yin and Yang. Medical treatments for insomnia are studied, also, in diverse fields according to the increasing in number of insomnia patients. The literature study about the causes and medical treatments of insomnia is useful for the access to effective oriental medical treatments for insomnia.