Sleep issues and women one of several key topics at World Sleep Congress in Vancouver, reports the CBC.

For most people, sleep issues are a temporary problem brought on by stress or worry. For some, they can be a debilitating, life-long problem.

Increasingly, doctors and sleep experts recognize that insomnia and other sleep disorders affect women and men differently. At the World Sleep Congress in Vancouver this week, women and sleep is one of a handful of key topics.

Dr. Ghada Bourjeily, a professor of medicine at Brown University in Rhode Island and chair of the course on sleep health for women at the conference, says women have historically been underrepresented in medical research, including research on sleep disorders.