IS the call of nature plaguing you in the middle of the night?

Not only is it incredibly frustrating, getting up to pee in the middle of the night could also be a sign of deadly diseases.

Around one in three adults over the age of 30 say they have to get up in the middle of the night to pee, and that increases to two thirds of adults over the age of 65.

The condition is called nocturia and sufferers will often have to use the loo more than once in the night.

It's not just the needing to wee you need to worry about, disrupted sleep has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, weakened immune systems, heart disease and even some cancers.

It can also cause mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and psychosis.

Professor of urology Philip Van Kerrebroeck, is warning people to look out for signs of nocturia...for the sake of your health.

He said: "People think that getting up in the night to go to the toilet is just part of getting older, but it doesn’t need to be.

"Poor sleep can seriously damage your health so people who are getting up several times a night should go to their doctor to see what’s causing it.

"The good news is that nocturia can be treated so you don’t need to suffer in silence."

A broken night's sleep can have a wide ranging impact on physical and mental health.

Productivity, relationships and career success can be impacted.

Prof Kerrebroeck, editor of the nocturia research centre, said lack of sleep can impact all forms of mental functioning, making it much harder to concentrate, remember things and pick up new skills or facts.

Not only can a lack of sleep cause illness, peeing during the night can also be a sign of them.

Nocturia can be caused by an overproduction of urine, which can be a symptom for more serious conditions.

Excessive urination, called polyuria, is when you wee more than 2.5 litres per day.

This can happen because you are drinking excessive amounts of fluid, or it could be a symptom of something far more serious - type 2 diabetes.

It can also be a sign of a bladder infection, kidney stones, kidney failure and an enlarged prostate in men.

A person who has type 2 diabetes has too much sugar in their blood.

The kidneys react to that by flushing it out of the blood and into the urine, which results in the need to pee more often.

Similarly, if you have problems with your kidneys, such as stones, then you will wee more frequently and the problem can change the way the kidneys operate.

If you often wee more than you think is normal and start to suffer back pain, weight loss, night sweats, leg weakness or fever you should see your GP.