breathing and sleep disorders

sleep disorders

A recent poll conducted on behalf of the National Sleep Foundation found that:

• 3 out of 4 of people questioned reported that they have frequent sleep problems.



• As little as half of people questioned reported that they slept without a problem on the majority of nights.



• 25% of people questioned reported that difficulty in sleeping impacted upon their daily lives.

The poll also revealed that:

• Just under two thirds of motorists reported having driven whilst drowsy in the past year. (4 % reported having an accident or near-accident through tiredness or falling asleep while driving.)



• Those polled cited sleep-related issues as the most usual reason for being late for work. Almost 1 in 3 of working adults reported missing work, events/activities or making errors at work through sleep-related issues in the previous 3 months.



• 75% of adults questioned reported a sleep problem with their partner - with 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, almost an hour of sleep every night.



• 25% of adults questioned with partners report difficulties in their sexual relationship as a result of tiredness. They enjoy sex less often or lose interest in having sex because of tiredness. A lot of couples sleep separately because of sleeping problems.

A large number of us suffer from the odd sleepless night without any consequences. If, however, the occasional night from time to time turns into a pattern of several nights in a row, you are looking at a sleeping problem.

Sleep apnea is among the most common and most dangerous sleep disorders. Approximately 18 million adults in the USA suffer from this condition, that is characterised by repeated episodes in which you stop breathing during sleep. In time this can cause cardiac disease, disordered thinking, and high blood pressure.

Typically linked with increasing age, sleep apnea can occur in association with fat buildup or loss of muscle tone. These changes permit the windpipe to collapse while breathing When muscles relax in the course of sleep.

This form of the condition, named obstructive sleep apnea, is ordinarily associated with loud snoring (though not everybody who snores suffers from this condition). Sleep apnea might also occur if the neurons that control breathing don't function properly during sleep.

During obstructive sleep apnea, your effort to inhale air will create suction that collapses the windpipe. This obstructs the air flow for 10 seconds to a minute while you struggle to breathe. When your blood oxygen level 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 continual awakenings that you experience as a sleep apnea sufferer leave you feeling permanently sleepy and may well cause personality changes such as irritability or depression. Sleep apnea also leaves you short of oxygen, which could lead to a decline in mental functioning, morning headaches, or a loss of interest in sex. High blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, and a heightened risk of heart attacks and stroke also Typically arise in cases of sleep apnea.

If you suffer from severe, untreated sleep apnea you are also 2 to 3 times more likely to have automobile accidents than the general population.

Mild sleep apnea can sometimes be overcome through weight loss or by preventing yourself from sleeping on your back. You may also need special devices or surgery to sort out the obstruction.

Restless leg syndrome (RLS), a familial disorder causing unpleasant tingling, prickling, or crawling sensations in the legs and feet and a desire 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 adults in the US, RLS leads to unremitting leg movement during the day and to insomnia at night.

Severe RLS is most commonly seen in elderly people, though symptoms might well appear at any age. In some cases, it may be linked to other conditions such as diabetes, pregancy, or anemia.

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

This internal clock governs 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's time to get up and go to sleep.

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

If you circadian rhythm is upset because of shift work, you may suffer from temporary sleep disorders such as transient insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness. If not treated, transient sleep problems associated with a change in your work schedule may become chronic and in serious cases may even demand medical intervention.

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

It is believed that more than 35 million people in America suffer from chronic insomnia (problems sleeping every night or virtually all nights for six months or more), with an added 20 to 30 million suffering shorter-term insomnia (problems sleeping well for between four weeks and six months). Further, many people suffer from insomnia over shorter periods (less than 4 weeks) and this is normally known as transient insomnia.

Transient insomnia is typically brought on by excitement (a surprise party for a loved one) or by stress (worry about making a speech). It also often results from long distance travel (jet lag) and can be seen in individuals who take exercise late in the day, shortly before going to bed. It is also often associated with illness (colds/flu) and with various over-the-counter medications (for example, some medicines purchased for asthma or colds).

Men and women of all ages experience insomnia, although it is more common in the elderly and in women, especially after the menopause.

Insomnia can be separated into three categories:

• "Initial" insomnia: in which you show problems in falling asleep, more often than not taking 30 minutes or more to fall asleep.



• "Middle" insomnia: in which, after falling asleep, you have problems maintaining a state of sleep and often remain awake until the early morning hours.



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

Insomnia can often be just the symptom of an underlying medical conditions that might require a visit to your doctor and medical care. Here it is a case of treating the cause, rather than the insomnia.

If, however, your inability to sleep results from a pattern of not sleeping, or your brain and body find difficulty in settling into a state of relaxation necessary for sleep, then there are a variety of choices for achieving healthy sleep without turning to prescription drugs.

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