national center for sleep disorder research

sleep disorders

A poll carried out for the National Sleep Foundation showed that:

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



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



• 1 out of 4 of people questioned reported that sleeping difficulties affected their daily lives.

The poll also showed that:

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



• Those questioned referenced sleep-related problems as the most common reason for being late for work. Almost 1 in 3 of working adults reported missing work, events/activities or making errors at work because of sleep-related problems in the past three months.



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



• 1 out of 4 of individuals polled with partners report problems 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.

A large number of us experience the odd night of sleeplessness without any consequences. When, however, the occasional night here and there becomes a pattern of several nights in a row, you are facing a sleeping problem.

At its simplest, jet lag is an extremely common sleep disorder endured by many millions of travelers each day. It affects both people traveling on business and for pleasure and, in a recent survey of international business travelers, 74% of those questioned said that they frequently suffered from jet lag.

Jet lag affects people of all ages and, despite the fact that it varies widely from one person to another, it tends to be more severe the older you get.

Also, if you are already experiencing difficulty sleeping, you might well find that jet lag is more of a problem.

Jet lag also increases as you cross more and more time zones. If the difference in time between your departure point and your destination is merely an hour or two, then it's possible that you won't 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 be more pronounced the bigger the time difference.

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

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

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

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

It is thought that in excess of 35 million people in America are suffering from a case of chronic insomnia (a difficulty in sleeping each night or virtually all nights for six months or more), with a further 20 to 30 million people suffering shorter-term insomnia (a difficulty in sleeping well for a period of four weeks to six months). Additionally, a lot of people suffer from insomnia over shorter periods (less than 4 weeks) and this is frequently referred to as transient insomnia.

Transient insomnia is often brought on by excitement (a child anticipating the arrival of Father Christmas) or by stress (concern about making a long journey). 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 connected to illness (colds/flu) and with some over-the-counter medications (for example, some medicines bought for asthma or a cold).

Women and men of all ages experience insomnia, although it is more commonly seen in women and in the elderly, particularly after the menopause.

Insomnia can be separated into three categories:

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



• "Middle" insomnia: in which, having fallen asleep, you have difficulties maintaining a state of sleep and usually stay awake into 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 frequently be just the symptom of an underlying medical conditions which may require a visit to your doctor and medical care. Here it is a matter of treating the cause, rather than the insomnia.

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

Narcolepsy affects about 250,000 people in America. Individuals with narcolepsy endure frequent "sleep attacks" in the day, even if they experience a normal amount of night-time sleep. Such attacks can last anywhere from just seconds to over 30 minutes.

People with narcolepsy can also experience cataplexy (loss of muscle control during an emotional situation), hallucinations, temporary paralysis when they awaken, and disrupted night-time sleep. These symptoms are features of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep which appear during waking, indicating that narcolepsy is a sleep regulation disorder.

The symptoms of narcolepsy normally appear during adolescence, although it usually takes years to obtain a correct diagnosis.

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

Once diagnosed, antidepressants, stimulatns, or other drugs can help control the symptoms and prevent the embarrassing and dangerous effects of falling asleep at improper times. Naps at certain times of the day can also reduce the excessive daytime sleepiness.

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