american sleep disorder association

sleep disorders

A recent poll carried out for the National Sleep Foundation found that:

• Three quarters of individuals polled said that they often have sleep problems.



• Just 50% of individuals polled said that they normally slept without problem.



• 1 out of 4 of individuals polled said that difficulty in sleeping impacted upon their daily lives.

The poll also demonstrated that:

• Just under two thirds of motorists polled reported having driven whilst drowsy within the past twelve months. (4 % reported that they had had an accident or near-accident as a result of tiredness or actually falling asleep while they were driving.)



• Those questioned named sleep-related issues as the commonest reason for being late for work. Almost two thirds of working adults reported missing work, events/activities or making errors at work because of sleep-related problems in the preceding 3 months.



• Three quarters of adults reported a sleep problem with their partner - snoring being the commonest. Partnered adults, suffer doubly disruptive sleep difficulties, as one partner's sleep difficulty may cause the other to lose, on average, up to an hour of sleep a night.



• A quarter of adults with partners report problems in their sexual relationship as a result of tiredness. They enjoy sex less frequently or lose interest in having sex as a result of tiredness. A large number of couples sleep separately because of a sleep problem.

A large number of us experience the odd night of sleeplessness without any consequences. If, however, the odd night from time to time turns into a pattern of several nights in a row, you face a sleeping problem.

In addition to the clock on your mantelpiece, your wrist watch or the alarm clock beside your bed, all of which, if you are like me, govern your life to a great extent, you also have your own internal clock that dictates the rhythm of your body.

Your internal clock controls many of your body's functions, regulating such things as temperature and the release of hormones and, above all, telling you when it's time to go to sleep and to get up.

Following the pattern of night and day (darkness and light) your body's internal clock tracks a pattern of about 24 hours thus giving your body a 24 hour rhythm or, to give it its full title, a circadian rhythm - from the Latin circa (about) dies (a day).

When disruption to your circadian rhythm takes place because of shift work, you may suffer from temporary sleep disorders such as excessive daytime sleepiness or transient insomnia. Left untreated, transient sleep problems linked to a change in your work schedule may become chronic and in serious cases might even require medical intervention.

Working shifts also places you at greater risk of chronic cardiovascular and gastrointestinal problems. Heartburn, colds, weight gain, high blood pressure, flu, indigestion and menstrual irregularities are all encountered more amongst shift workers.

It is believed that over 35 million individuals in the US have chronic insomnia (a problem sleeping each night or most nights for at least, or in excess of, six months), with a further 20 to 30 million individuals suffering shorter-term insomnia (a problem sleeping well for a period of one to six months). Further, a significant number of people suffer from insomnia over shorter periods (under 4 weeks) and this is ordinarily called transient insomnia.

Transient insomnia is often brought on by excitement (a surprise party for a loved one) or by stress (worrying about an important meeting). It also often results from long distance travel (jet lag) and can be seen in people who exercise late in the day, shortly before going to bed. It is also often linked to illness (colds/flu) and with various over-the-counter medications (for example, some medicines bought for asthma or colds).

Women and men of all ages experience insomnia, although it is more commonly seen in the elderly and in women, especially after the menopause.

Insomnia can be divided into three classes:

• "Initial" insomnia: in which you demonstrate difficulty in falling asleep, usually taking 30 minutes or longer to fall asleep.



• "Middle" insomnia: in which, having fallen asleep, you have difficulty maintaining a sleep state and typically stay awake until the early hours of the morning.



• "Late" or "Terminal" insomnia: in which you wake early in the morning after less than 6 hours of sleep.

Insomnia can often be simply the symptom of an underlying medical conditions which could well require your doctor's advice and medical care. Here it will be a case of treating the underlying medical problem, rather than the insomnia.

If, however, your inability to sleep results from a pattern of not sleeping, or your body and mind find it difficult to settle into a state of relaxation necessary for sleep, then there are a variety of choices for achieving healthy sleep without resorting to prescription drugs.

Narcolepsy affects approximately 250,000 people in the US. People with narcolepsy suffer frequent "sleep attacks" in the day, even when they experience a normal amount of night-time sleep. These "sleep attacks" can last anything from just seconds to over half an hour.

People with narcolepsy might also experience cataplexy (loss of muscle control in emotional situations), hallucinations, temporary paralysis when they wake up, and disrupted night-time sleep. These symptoms are features of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep that appear during waking, which suggests that narcolepsy is a disorder of sleep regulation.

Narcolepsy symptoms usually appear during adolescence, although it usually takes years to obtain a correct diagnosis.

The disorder (or a predisposition to it) is generally hereditary, but it is occasionally linked to brain damage from a head injury or to neurological disease.

Once narcolepsy has been diagnosed, antidepressants, stimulatns, or other drugs can help to control the symptoms and prevent the dangerous and embarrassing effects of falling asleep at inappropriate times. Naps at certain times of the day may also reduce the excessive sleepiness during the day.

Restless leg syndrome (RLS), a familial disorder causing unpleasant crawling, tingling, or prickling sensations in the feet and legs and a need to move them if you want relief, is emerging as one of the more common sleep disorders, particularly among the elderly.

Affecting as many as 12 million people in the United States, RLS leads to continual leg movement during the day and to insomnia at night.

Severe RLS is most often seen in elderly people, though symptoms might come on at any age. In some cases, it may be associated with other conditions such as diabetes, anemia, or pregancy.

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