The real reasons women are losing more sleep than men

Menopause, pregnancy and hormonal fluctuations during the monthly cycle can all have a huge effect on women’s sleep

- DA MNTGHELLE GRIFFIN

Sleep: there's a fairly good chance you're not getting enough. Whether it's due to the likes of stress, caffeine or late-night doom-scrolling, one in three people are reportedly not getting enough sleep, according to US figures.

Some of these people will have insomnia, a clinical condition with an exact definition: a sleep disorder that affects a person's performance the next day - for two to three nights every week, for more than three months.

Anyone can get insomnia, but women are more at risk than men. According to one study, it's 58-per-cent more prevalent among women.

Why? Although studying sleep is a complex undertaking and the causes of sleep disturbance are multifactorial - hormonal fluctuations throughout a woman's life significantly impact the quality and quantity of her sleep.

Women who have a menstrual cycle experience cyclical changes in a multitude of hormones. In the days leading up to their period, these changes appear through a variety of symptoms, collectively known as pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) or pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), due to the declining levels of oestrogen and progesterone.