menopausal sleep disorder

sleep disorders

The release of a recently conducted poll on behalf of the National Sleep Foundation reveals that:

• Three quarters of adults reported that they frequently have difficuly sleeping.



• Only 1 out of 2 of adults reported that they usually slept reasonably well.



• 25% of adults reported that sleeping difficulties impacted upon their daily lives.

The poll also demonstrated that:

• 60% of adult motorists said that they had driven while drowsy in the past twelve months. (4 % said that they had had an accident or near-accident through tiredness or having fallen asleep while they were driving.)



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



• Three quarters of people polled 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 nightly.



• 1 out of 4 of people polled with partners report problems in their sexual relationship as a result of tiredness. They enjoy sex less often or lose interest in having sex because of tiredness. Numerous couples sleep apart because of sleeping difficulties.

A large number of us experience the occasional sleepless night 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 inducing unpleasant crawling, prickling, or tingling sensations in the feet and legs 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 individuals in the United States, restless leg syndrome leads to unremitting movement of the legs during the day and to sleeplessness at night.

Severe RLS is most frequently seen in elderly people, though symptoms may come on at any age. In some cases, it may be associated with other conditions such as pregancy, diabetes, or anemia.

Sleep apnea is among the commonest and most dangerous types of sleep disorder. Approximately 18 million people in the United States suffer from this condition, that is characterised by repeating episodes in which you cease breathing while sleeping. In time this can produce high blood pressure, cardiac disease, and disordered thinking.

Sometimes connected with increasing age, sleep apnea can occur in association with fat buildup or loss of muscle tone. These changes allow a collapse in the windpipe while breathing As muscles relax in the course of sleep.

This form of the condition, known as obstructive sleep apnea, is usually associated with loud snoring (though not everybody who snores suffers from this condition). Sleep apnea might 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 that results in the collapse the windpipe. This blocks the air flow for between ten seconds and one minute while you struggle to breathe. As the level of oxygen in your blood falls, the brain responds by awakening you enough to tighten the muscles of the upper airway and open the windpipe. You may snort or gasp, then resume breathing. This cycle may be repeated hundreds of times a night.

The constant awakenings which you experience as a sleep apnea sufferer leave you feeling permanently fatigued and could well lead to changes in personality like depression and irritability. Sleep apnea also leaves you short of oxygen, which could lead to a loss of interest in sex, a decline in mental functioning, or morning headaches. High blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and a raised risk of heart attacks and stroke also Often arise in cases of sleep apnea.

If you are suffering from from severe, untreated sleep apnea you appear two to three times more likely to have an automobile accident than the general population.

Mild sleep apnea can commonly be overcome through weight loss or by preventing yourself from sleeping on your back. You may also need a special device or surgery to clear the obstruction.

Narcolepsy affects close to 250,000 adults in the United States. Individuals with narcolepsy have frequent "sleep attacks" in the day, even when they enjoy a normal amount of night-time sleep. These attacks can last anything from several seconds to over half an hour.

People with narcolepsy might also experience cataplexy (the loss of muscle control in emotional situations), hallucinations, temporary paralysis when they awaken, and interrupted night-time sleep. These symptoms are features of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep that appear during waking, which suggests that narcolepsy is a sleep regulation disorder.

The symptoms of narcolepsy normally appear during adolescence, though it often takes years to get a correct diagnosis.

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

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

It is estimated that in excess of 35 million individuals in the United States are suffering from chronic insomnia (a difficulty in sleeping every night or on the majority of nights for a period of more than six months), with an additional 20 to 30 million suffering shorter-term insomnia (a difficulty in sleeping well for between a month and six months). Additionally, a large number of people suffer from insomnia over shorter periods (less than 4 weeks) and this is commonly referred to as transient insomnia.

Transient insomnia is frequently brought on by excitement (a surprise party for a loved one) or by stress (concern about a coming examination). It also often results from air travel (jet lag) and can be seen in people who exercise late in the day, shortly before going to bed. It is also often linked to illness (colds/flu) and with a few over-the-counter medications (for example, some medicines purchased for colds or asthma).

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

Insomnia can be separated into three categories:

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



• "Middle" insomnia: in which, after falling asleep, you have difficulty maintaining a sleep state and commonly stay awake into the early morning hours.



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

Insomnia can frequently be merely the symptom of some underlying medical conditions that could require a trip to the doctor's office and medical care. Here it is a matter of treating the underlying medical problem, rather than the insomnia.

If, however, your lack of sleep results from a pattern of not sleeping, or your body and brain find it difficult to settle into a state of relaxation necessary for sleep, then there are various choices for achieving healthy sleep without turning to prescription drugs.

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