Long Term Effects of Insomnia on Health Make an Appointment Ask a Question Search Conditions National Jewish Health insomnia expert, Jack Edinger, PhD, explains that when insomnia is untreated for months and years, it can impact brain, heart and emotional health. Related Videos Sleepless? 5 Expert Tips to Help You Get Sleepy What Is Insomnia and How Does It Affect You? Tips to Stop Insomnia and Get Back to Sleep Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Helps Treat Insomnia Is Your Teen Getting Enough Sleep? Study: After Watching Disturbing Video, CPAP Usage Soars Is My Snoring Dangerous? Video Transcript People with chronic insomnia struggle week in and week out. They typically will have sleep disturbance three or more nights a week and for at least three months duration, but the patients I see in clinic, it’s years and years. You know there is some emerging evidence that insomnia coupled with a short objective sleep duration can raise risks for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, neural cognitive deficits, depression, so it is a very impactful disease in the long term. Want to use this on your website? Fill out the content usage request form and then copy this code: