clinic for sleep disorders

sleep disorders

The publication of a recently conducted National Sleep Foundation polls reveals that:

• 3 out of 4 of people questioned said that they frequently have difficuly sleeping.



• Just half of people questioned said that they normally slept without any difficulty.



• 1 out of 4 of people questioned said that sleep problems had an impact upon their daily lives.

The poll also revealed that:

• 60% of adult motorists said that they had driven while drowsy in the previous twelve months. (4 % said that they had had an accident or near-accident because of tiredness or falling asleep while driving.)



• People questioned 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 through sleep-related issues in the past three months.



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



• 1 out of 4 of adults with partners report troubles in their sexual relationship as a result of tiredness. They enjoy sex less frequently or lose interest in sex through tiredness. Numerous couples sleep separately because of a sleep problem.

Many of us experience the occasional sleepless night without any consequences. If, however, the odd night once in a while becomes a pattern of several nights in a row, you are facing a sleeping problem.

Sleep apnea is one of the commonest and most dangerous sleep disorders. An estimated 18 million adults in the USA suffer from sleep apnea, that is marked by repeated episodes of cessation of breathing during sleep. In time this can lead to high blood pressure, disordered thinking, and cardiac disease.

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

This form of the condition, called obstructive sleep apnea, is typically linked to loud snoring (though not everyone who snores suffers from this condition). Sleep apnea can also occur if the neurons responsible for the control of breathing do not function correctly during sleep.

During an episode of obstructive sleep apnea, attempts to inhale air will create suction which 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. When your blood oxygen level falls, the brain responds by waking you sufficiently 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 which you experience as a sleep apnea sufferer leave you feeling permanently fatigued and may result in changes in personality like irritability or depression. Sleep apnea also deprives you of oxygen, which could lead to a loss of interest in sex, morning headaches, or a decline in mental functioning. High blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and a heightened risk of stroke and heart attack also Frequently arise in cases of sleep apnea.

If you have from severe, untreated sleep apnea you appear two to three times more likely to be involved in an automoblie accident than the general population.

Mild sleep apnea can commonly be overcome by loosing weight or by preventing yourself from sleeping on your back. You might need special devices or surgery to sort out the obstruction.

Restless leg syndrome (RLS), a familial disorder producing unpleasant tingling, crawling, 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, especially among older people.

Affecting as many as 12 million adults in the USA, this disorder leads to continual movement of the legs during the day and to sleeplessness at night.

Severe RLS is most common in elderly people, although symptoms may well come on at any age. In some cases, it may be linked to other conditions such as pregancy, diabetes, or anemia.

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

This internal clock governs many of your body's functions, regulating such things as temperature and the release of hormones and, most especially, 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 roughly 24 hours thus giving your body a 24 hour rhythm or, more correctly, 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 transient insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness. If not treated, transient sleep problems linked to a change in your work schedule could become chronic and in serious cases could even expect medical intervention.

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

Narcolepsy affects in the region of 250,000 Americans. People with narcolepsy have frequent "sleep attacks" during the day, even when they enjoy a normal amount of night-time sleep. Attacks can last anywhere from just seconds to over half an hour.

People with narcolepsy may also experience cataplexy (the loss of muscle control during an emotional situation), hallucinations, temporary paralysis when they wake up, and disrupted night-time sleep. These symptoms are features of REM sleep which appear during waking, suggesting that narcolepsy is a disorder of sleep regulation.

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

The disorder (or at least a predisposition for it) is typically hereditary, but it is now and then linked to brain damage from a head injury or to neurological disease.

Once it has been diagnosed, antidepressants, stimulatns, or other drugs can help 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.

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