One in eight suffers from sleeplessness

One in eight Hongkongers suffers from varying degrees of sleeplessness, research has found.

Wing Yun-kwok, a professor of psychiatry at Chinese University and the president of the Society of Sleep Medicine, said many people struggle more than three times a week to sleep.

Professor Wing said there could be genetic reasons for sleep disorders, but pressure, unhealthy habits and illnesses also could lead to sleeping problems.

Professor Wing said sleeping problems were not simply a symptom of mental illness, they could trigger such illness. He added: 'Driving while sleepy or tired can be as dangerous as drink-driving.'

Results of the sleep research are to be released this year, detailing data collected from 10,000 Hongkongers in 2003.