Britain is a nation of insomniacs with up to 15 per cent of the population suffering from the chronic sleep complaint.

And with each person spending on average 29,000 hours of their lives on bed, that makes up a lot of sleepless nights.

New research has pinpointed certain types of people who are likely to suffer more. A health journal report says sleep experts have discovered that less educated women are up to twice as likely to suffer from insomnia as their male counterparts.

Scientists at a Taiwan university also discovered that while more educated women suffered less from sleepless nights, the opposite was true for their male counter-parts.

A good education can mean bad sleep for men, according to the research carried out on 40,000 insomnia sufferers. They were asked questions on many different socio-economic factors, from their marital status and employment to education, basic household income and the number of other family members aged under 15.

Single parenthood, loss of income, marriage breakdown and unemployment were some of the major factors leading to insomnia.

An Italian study suggested recently that the potential reason for the findings in Taiwan was that educated women tended to have natural sleep aids such as regular sleeping patterns and eating and exercising well.

Less educated women were far more likely to use sleeping tablets and other artificial aids, which work less well in the long run.

Dr Richard Bowskill, a consultant psychiatrist at the Priory Hospital in New Church Road, Hove, says socio-economic factors rather than education, or lack of it, are likely to be a reason why women seem to suffer with insomnia more than men.

"There are quite a lot of mild to moderate psychiatric problems that have a similar sex distribution, such as depression and anxiety, and they can both be associated with insomnia," he says.

"In lower socio-economic classes, cases of both these conditions amongst women are higher."

Money problems and single parenthood could both be linked to those disorders, and in turn to insomnia, he says.

He also suggests that men are more likely to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol when suffering from depression than to go the doctor.

"With an insomnia-sufferer the most important thing to do first is find out whether there are any secondary causes such as depression or anxiety or misuse of drugs or alcohol," he says.

"Painful physical conditions such as arthritis can also be a factor."

Around half of cases of insomnia could be identified in this way, he says.

"Another important thing to look at is alcohol and cannabis misuse.

"Initially alcohol works because it induces sleep - but after a while it can be a cause for insomnia as it disrupts your sleep patterns.

"Cannabis is also often used as a sleep drug but it causes daytime drowsiness, and that can lead to difficulties in sleeping at night, especially if you have a nap during the day."

What happens when you don't get enough sleep?

  • Lack of concentration.
  • Clumsiness and memory loss.
  • Loss of intelligence - some experts say your IQ actually goes down with every hour of sleep lost.
  • Reduced immune system which makes you more vulnerable to infection.
  • Extreme sleep deprivation can also cause hallucinations and difficulty speaking and moving.

Sleep hygiene - top tips for a good night's sleep: Keep regular hours Going to bed and getting up at roughly the same time every day will programme the body to sleep better.

Create a restful sleeping environment. Your bedroom should be kept for rest and sleep. It should be clear of clutter, neither too hot nor too cold and as quiet and dark as possible.

Make sure the bed is comfortable. It is difficult to get a proper night's deep and restful sleep on a bed that is too soft, too hard, too small or too creaky.

Take more exercise. Swimming or walking can help relieve the day's stresses and strains - but remember exercise too close to bedtime may keep you awake.

Cut down on stimulants. Cut down on tea, coffee and chocolate as the caffeine interferes with both falling asleep and can prevent deep sleep. Drinking three or four cups of coffee in a day means caffeine will still be in the system the next morning. Try a hot milky drink or herbal tea instead. Sleepy Tea from the Tea and Philosophy range won the Best New Organic Food Product Award at the Organic Industry Awards 2005.

Don't over-indulge. Too much food or alcohol before bedtime can disrupt sleep patterns. Although alcohol may help you fall asleep initially it can interrupt sleep later on in the night.

Relax before bed. Have a warm bath, listen to soothing music, do some yoga. Make a list of things to be tackled the next day to stop you worrying about them as you lie in bed.