Each week we ask our panel of experts to tackle your health problems. This week how to relieve sleeplessness.

Remedies to help you win the battle for sleep

Q: I've recently started suffering from insomnia and it's really started to get me down. Are there any homeopathic remedies that can help?

AMost people experience sleeplessness at some time in their lives, such as before an exam or during emotional trauma.

Usually this will pass after the obvious cause has gone, but if a pattern of sleeplessness becomes established it can be difficult to break.

If sleep difficulties, particularly early-morning waking are accompanied by feeling very low, then you should visit a practitioner to look at the possibility of underlying depression.

Homeopathy is a very effective way to treat insomnia as the remedies are safe, non-habit forming and non-toxic, working on the ancient principle that "like-cures-like".

Using a remedy which matches your individual symptoms gently triggers the body to rebalance. Here are some homeopathic remedies that may help.

Nux Vomica: May be helpful if getting to sleep is not a problem but you wake at 3-4am, unable to get back to sleep and possibly live a fast-paced life, working and playing hard. Try one Nux Vom 30c and then repeat after two weeks if necessary.

Coffea: If thoughts of the day race around in your mind and you feel oversensitive to noise, touch and smell, resulting in irritation and restlessness and preventing you from falling asleep, use Coffea 30c as and when required.

Kali Phos: If you are left feeling nervous, anxious and exhausted take Kali Phos 6x for 10 nights.

Zoe Meachem is a homeopath working at Neal's Yard Remedies in Manchester city centre


Child behavioural specialist Amanda Clarkson of The Cactus Clinic at the University of Teesside

Q: My son was put on Ritalin two years ago and initially did really well. But I am concerned that his academic performance is not so good right now. Does this sometimes happen to children who are on medication?

Medication is the dominant approach to the management of ADHD, though its effects on the cognitive development and academic achievement of children are the subject of concern. Although research has been carried out on short term effects, there has been little exploration of its long term effects, with the longest published study being 14 months.

There is evidence that this medication is effective in making children {lsquo}better' at calming down, paying attention and focusing. However, recent evidence from the US suggests that while children's IQ increased in the short term, over a three-year period some individuals on medication lost as many as 40 points on their IQ. In the same study, the greatest positive gains were made by the ADHD Non-Medicated Group.

Although all groups progressed over and above expected results, medication appeared to have a detrimental effect on all test scores at the end of three years. In particular, although those on medication improved their word reading abilities, they had problems comprehending words and passages, suggesting that medicated children may be improving their ability to read more so than the non-medicated, but they are not as capable of understanding what they have read.

Optician Martyn Allen, clinical director at Stuart Jones Styling Opticians in Manchester

Q: I am considering buying new spectacles off the internet, but I'm concerned that they might not be right and I'll have wasted my money?

Buying spectacles on-line is cheaper and savings can be made, because no professional advice is offered. You are simply buying a product in its basic form. If the frame is too heavy, or the sides too long, or the nose pads not angled properly, you will have uncomfortable, ill-fitting spectacles that cause no end of problems.

Remember, when you buy from your optician, you are not just paying for frames and lenses. With it comes professional advice on many different fronts, from the benefits of varifocals over bifocals, occupational lenses to single vision, and transitions to sunglasses, to name a few. Lenses are required to be at specific heights and centrations, which need accurate measuring, and lens designs vary between manufacturers.

Opticians offer free aftercare to ensure your spectacles are regularly adjusted and maintained. None of this is available when you buy on-line. Proceed with caution if this is what you choose to do. Sometimes these frames are discontinued which makes them cheaper.

But it can be difficult to get parts later. If you are on a budget, speak to your optician about alternative frames or lens types. At least you'll get the advice and service you require.

Dr Jeremy Tankel has been a GP in Salford for 19 years. He is married with four children.

Q: I have noticed some blood after using the loo. Am I suffering from piles?

Bleeding from the back passage is always a worrying symptom. There are many possible causes, but today I will deal with only one cause. The bleeding from piles (haemorrhoids) is characterised with fresh blood on the toilet paper. Piles are vascular tissue to be found just at the opening of the back passage.

Treatment in the first instance is by making the motions softer by changing the diet. At least five portions a day of fruit, salad or vegetables are needed to do this. Each portion is the size of a cupped hand. Occasionally, if the bleeding persists despite this simple treatment then the opinion of a surgeon is needed.

Common treatments include putting a small rubber band at the base of the vascular tissue. This is not painful and is done as an out patient. If that fails, then a formal operation and excision of the tissue is needed, a rather uncomfortable procedure.

If you are over 45 or if your bleeding is any more than just staining the toilet paper then you should consult your GP to confirm that there are no other more serious causes.

If you've got a question for one of our experts write to them c/o Carmel Thomason, Features, Manchester Evening News, 1 Scott Place, Manchester, M3 3RN.