asthma and allergy and sleep disorder

sleep disorders

It was revealed in a recent poll conducted on behalf of the National Sleep Foundation that:

• Three quarters of adults stated that they frequently have sleep problems.



• As little as half of adults stated that they slept without a problem on the majority of nights.



• 1 out of 4 of adults stated that problems sleeping affected their daily lives.

The poll also showed that:

• 60% of motorists questioned reported driving while drowsy in the previous year. (4 % reported that they had had an accident or near-accident through tiredness or falling asleep while driving.)



• People polled cited sleep-related problems as the usual reason for being late for work. Almost 1 in 3 of working adults reported missing work, events/activities or making errors at work as a result of sleep-related issues in the preceding 3 months.



• 3 out of 4 of individuals polled reported a sleep problem with their partner - with snoring being the most common. Partnered adults, suffer doubly disruptive sleep difficulties, as one partner's sleep difficulty could cause the other to lose, on average, up to an hour of sleep each night.



• 25% of individuals polled with partners report problems in their sexual relationship because of tiredness. They enjoy sex less often or lose interest in sex through tiredness. A large number of couples sleep separately because of sleeping problems.

A large number of us have the occasional night of sleeplessness without any consequences. When, however, the occasional night now and again becomes a pattern of several nights in a row, you face a sleeping problem.

Restless leg syndrome (RLS), a familial disorder creating unpleasant crawling, prickling, or tingling 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 in older people.

Affecting as many as 12 million Americans, restless leg syndrome leads to constant movement of the legs during the day and to sleeplessness at night.

Severe RLS is most commonly seen in elderly people, although symptoms may well develop at any age. In some cases, it may be associated with other conditions such as diabetes, anemia, or pregancy.

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

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

Following the pattern of day and night (light and darkness) your internal clock tracks a pattern of around 24 hours thereby 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).

If your body's circadian rhythm is disrupted as a result of shift work, you may suffer from temporary sleep disorders such as transient insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness. If not treated, transient sleep problems linked to a change in your work schedule can become chronic and in serious cases might even demand medical intervention.

Shift work also places you at increased risk of chronic gastrointestinal and cardiovascular problems. Heartburn, high blood pressure, indigestion, flu, colds, weight gain and menstrual irregularities are all documented more amongst shift workers.

Sleep apnea is one of the most common and most dangerous sleep disorders. About 18 million individuals in the US suffer from sleep apnea, which is characterised by repeating episodes of cessation of breathing while sleeping. Over time this can result in high blood pressure, disordered thinking, and cardiac disease.

Usually connected with aging, sleep apnea can occur together with loss of muscle tone or a buildup of fat. These changes cause a collapse in the windpipe while breathing When muscles relax in the course of sleep.

This form of the condition, known as obstructive sleep apnea, is typically linked to loud snoring (though not everybody who snores has this condition). Sleep apnea may also occur if the neurons responsible for the control of breathing do not function correctly during sleep.

During obstructive sleep apnea, your effort to inhale air will create suction that collapses the windpipe. This, in turn, obstructs the air flow for anything from about ten seconds up to a minute while you struggle to breathe. As the level of oxygen in your blood falls, the brain reacts by waking you enough to tighten the muscles of the upper airway and open the windpipe. You may gasp or snort, then resume breathing. This cycle may be repeated hundreds of times a night.

The frequent awakenings that you experience as a sleep apnea sufferer leave you feeling permanently tired and might well lead to changes in personality such as depression and irritability. Sleep apnea also deprives you of oxygen, which might lead to a loss of interest in sex, a decline in mental functioning, or morning headaches. High blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and a heightened risk of heart attacks and stroke also Typically arise in cases of sleep apnea.

If you are suffering from from severe, untreated sleep apnea you are also 2 to 3 times more likely to be involved in an automoblie accident than the general population.

Mild sleep apnea can often be overcome through weight loss or by preventing yourself from sleeping on your back. You might also require a special device or surgery to sort out the obstruction.

Narcolepsy affects about 250,000 people in America. Individuals with narcolepsy suffer frequent "sleep attacks" during the day, even if they experience a normal amount of night-time sleep. These attacks can last anywhere from just seconds to more than 30 minutes.

People with narcolepsy might also experience cataplexy (the loss of muscle control in emotional situations), hallucinations, temporary paralysis when they wake up, and interrupted night-time sleep. These symptoms seem to be features of REM sleep which appear during waking, indicating that narcolepsy is a sleep regulation disorder.

The symptoms of narcolepsy generally appear during adolescence, although it normally takes years to obtain a correct diagnosis.

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

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

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