disturbed sleep disorder

sleep disorders

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

• 3 out of 4 of individuals questioned said that they have frequent sleep problems.



• Only 50% of individuals questioned said that they usually slept reasonably well.



• 1 out of 4 of individuals questioned said that sleep problems impacted upon their daily lives.

The poll also showed that:

• Just under two thirds of motorists polled said that they had driven while drowsy in the previous twelve months. (4 % reported that they had had an accident or near-accident through tiredness or having fallen asleep while driving.)



• Those polled referenced sleep-related problems as the usual reason for being late for work. Almost 30% of working adults reported missing work, events/activities or making mistakes at work as a result of sleep-related issues in the preceding 3 months.



• Three quarters of adults 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 could cause the other to lose, on average, about an hour of sleep each night.



• A quarter of adults with partners report troubles in their sexual relationship because of tiredness. They enjoy sex less often or lose interest in sex because of tiredness. Many couples sleep apart because of a sleep problem.

Many people experience the odd sleepless night without any consequences. Once, however, the odd night now and again turns into a pattern of several nights in a row, you are looking at a sleeping problem.

It is believed that over 35 million adults in the USA suffer from chronic insomnia (a difficulty in sleeping each night or on the majority of nights for a period of more than six months), with another 20 to 30 million adults suffering shorter-term insomnia (a difficulty in sleeping well for a period of a month to six months). Additionally, a significant number of people suffer from insomnia over shorter periods (less than 4 weeks) and this is normally called transient insomnia.

Transient insomnia is usually brought on by excitement (a child anticipating the arrival of Father Christmas) or by stress (worrying about your upcoming driving test). It also often results from air travel (jet lag) and can be seen in those who 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 bought for asthma or a cold).

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

Insomnia can be separated into three classes:

• "Initial" insomnia: in which you display difficulty in falling asleep, invariably taking 30 minutes or more to fall asleep.



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



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

Insomnia can sometimes be only the symptom of an underlying medical conditions which might require advice from your doctor and medical care. Here it is a case of treating the underlying medical problem, rather than the insomnia.

If, however, your sleeplessness 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 using prescription drugs.

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

Affecting as many as 12 million people in the USA, this disorder leads to constant leg movement during the day and to sleeplessness at night.

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

At its simplest, jet lag is an extremely common sleep disorder experienced by many millions of travelers daily. It affects both those traveling on holiday and on business and, in a recent survey of international business travelers, 3/4 of those questioned said that they often suffered from jet lag.

Jet lag affects people of all ages and, despite the fact that it varies widely from person to person, it tends to increase in severity the older you get.

In addition, if you already have difficulty sleeping, you might find that jet lag is more of a problem.

Jet lag also increases as you cross a growing number of time zones. If the difference in time between your point of departure and your destination is merely an hour or two, then you're unlikely to experience jet lag at all. But, if the difference in time is three hours or more then jet lag will begin to appear and its effects will become more and more pronounced the greater the time difference.

Finally, jet lag symptoms do not always appear right away and, for a few individuals, it might be two or three days before it hits.

Narcolepsy affects around 250,000 adults in America. Individuals with narcolepsy endure frequent "sleep attacks" during the day, even when they get a normal amount of night-time sleep. These "sleep attacks" can last anything from just a few seconds to more than 30 minutes.

People with narcolepsy can also experience cataplexy (a 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 sleep that appear during waking, indicating that narcolepsy is a sleep regulation disorder.

Narcolepsy symptoms generally appear in adolescence, although it typically takes years to get a correct diagnosis.

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

Once it 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 may also reduce the excessive daytime sleepiness.

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