children sleep disorders

sleep disorders

The publication of a recent National Sleep Foundation polls shows that:

• 75% of people polled stated that they have frequent sleeping difficulties.



• Only 50% of people polled stated that they normally slept quite well.



• A quarter of people polled stated that problems sleeping impacted upon their daily lives.

The poll also showed that:

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



• People polled named sleep-related problems as the most common reason for being late for work. Almost 30% of working adults reported missing work, events/activities or making mistakes at work through sleep-related problems in the past 3 months.



• 75% of individuals questioned reported a sleep problem with their partner - with snoring being the most usual. Partnered adults, suffer doubly disruptive sleep difficulties, as one partner's sleep difficulty can cause the other to lose, on average, up to an hour of sleep every night.



• 25% of individuals questioned with partners report difficulties in their sexual relationship as a result of tiredness. They enjoy sex less often or lose interest in sex as a result of tiredness. A large number of couples sleep separately because of a sleep problem.

A large number of us have the occasional night of sleeplessness without any consequences. Once, however, the odd night once in a while turns into a pattern of several nights in a row, you are facing a sleeping problem.

Narcolepsy affects around 250,000 Americans. 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 in excess of 30 minutes.

Individuals 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, which suggests that narcolepsy is a disorder of sleep regulation.

Narcolepsy symptoms commonly appear in adolescence, though it typically takes years to obtain a correct diagnosis.

The disorder (or at least a predisposition to it) is usually hereditary, but it is sometimes linked to brain damage from a head injury or to neurological disease.

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

Restless leg syndrome (RLS), a familial disorder producing unpleasant crawling, tingling, or prickling sensations in the legs and feet and impulse to move them for relief, is emerging as one of the more common sleep disorders, especially in older people.

Affecting as many as 12 million people in the United States, this disorder leads to unremitting movement of the legs during the day and to sleeplessness at night.

Severe RLS is most often seen in elderly people, though symptoms may develop at any age. In some cases, it may be associated with other conditions such as pregancy, diabetes, 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 like me, govern your life to a large extent, you also have your own internal clock that dictates your body's rhythm.

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

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

Whenever disruption to the body's circadian rhythm occurs 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 can become chronic and in serious cases might even necessitate medical intervention.

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

In simple terms, jet lag is a very common sleep disorder endured by millions of travelers every day. It affects both people traveling on holiday and on business and, according to a recent survey of international business travelers, 1 in 4 of those questioned said that they often suffered from jet lag.

Jet lag affects individuals of all ages and, though it varies widely from one individual to another, it tends to be more severe the older you get.

Additionally, if you are already experiencing sleeping problems, you may find that jet lag is more of a problem.

Jet lag also increases as you cross more and more time zones. If the time difference between your departure point and your destination is simply an hour or two, then you might not experience jet lag at all. But, if the difference in time is three hours or more then jet lag will start to appear and its effects will become more and more pronounced the larger the time difference.

Finally, the symptoms of jet lag don't always appear right away and, for a few individuals, it could be a couple of days before it hits.

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