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Practice Clinical updates

Chronic insomnia: diagnosis and non-pharmacological management

BMJ 2016; 355 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i5819 (Published 16 November 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;355:i5819

Rapid Response:

Re: Chronic insomnia: diagnosis, the brain and alcohol

Dear editor,

This article on insomnia seems only to address a small part of insomnia diagnosis and treatment. An article on insomnia not mentioning the role of alcohol is incomplete. A more detailed attempt at diagnosis of secondary causes is essential before following the route proposed (which is useful of course). OSAS, PTSD and restless legs, to name a few causes, are not uncommon at all. The BMJ published an excellent review in 2011 entitled The assessment and management of insomnia in primary care that I would refer readers to which deals with diagnosis and history much better than this article unfortunately, and will help more people sleep better!

Yours sincerely,

Dr Jan Coebergh
MBBS FRCP

Competing interests: No competing interests

22 November 2016
JA Coebergh
Consultant Neurologist
Ashford St Peters hospital
guildford road, KT16 0PZ Surrey