Sleeping Disorders

What are sleep disorders?

Several conditions that affects your sleep in a way that you are unable to sleep on regular basis are called sleep disorders. Sleep disorders are very common nowadays.

Many people experience sleep problems occasionally due to stress, busy schedule and some other influences. However it can turn into sleep disorder when these sleeping problems start happening on regular basis and affects your daily life. Lack of sleep or poor sleep can have negative impacts on your energy, health, mood, and concentration.

Sleep disorders can also be due to some other medical or mental conditions. These sleep disorders can be cured and go away after medication and simple life changes if other medical and mental conditions are not involved.

Types of sleep disorders:

Different types of sleep disorders are:

Insomnia:

Your inability to fall asleep or staying asleep is called insomnia. It usually happens due to stress, jet lag, anxiety, hormones and digestive problems.

Insomnia can cause you many problems related to your health and quality of life such as:

· Poor performance at work

· Depression

· Irritability

· Weight gain

Insomnia is classified in three types:

1. Chronic (when it happens regularly for 1 month)

2. Intermittent (when it occurs periodically)

3. Transient (when it occurs for few nights)

Sleep apnea:

Sleep apnea is a serious medical condition in which your body take in less oxygen and you feel difficult in breathing during sleep.

It is characterized in two types:

1. Obstructive sleep apnea

2. Central sleep apnea

Parasomnias:

It is a type of sleep disorder in which you do movements during sleep which are abnormal such as:

· Sleep walking

· Groaning

· Sleep talking

· Bed wetting

· Nightmares

· Teeth grinding

Narcolepsy:

Narcolepsy is also known as sleep attacks. These attacks occur while you are awake as you will fall asleep suddenly without any warning. You will started feeling extremely tired and fatigued in this situation.

In this type you can be also sleep paralyzed, that is you will be unable to move right after waking up.

Restless Leg syndrome:

In this syndrome you feel an urge to move your leg during sleep. You can also feel tingling sensation in your legs. This syndrome usually happens due to some medical conditions such as Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or Parkinson’s disease. However exact causes are not known yet.

Symptoms:

Symptoms of sleep disorder vary according to their types and severity of condition. They can be also different if other medical issues are involved.

General symptoms of sleep disorder include:

· Daytime fatigue

· Strong urge to take naps during day

· Unusual breathing pattern

· Unusual changes in sleep and awake schedule

· Weight gain

· Depression

· Anxiety

· Lack of concentration

· Feel difficulty in falling asleep

· Unpleasant urge to move while falling asleep

· Poor performance at work

Causes:

Many diseases, medical conditions and disorders can cause you sleep disorders. Some of the causes are:

· It can be caused due to allergies, cold and flu. Infection in upper respiratory system can also cause it as you will feel difficult to breathe.

· Feeling urge to urinate frequently also known as Nocturia can make you awake during night. Some other urinary tract diseases and hormonal imbalance can also develop this condition.

· If you feel chronic pain anywhere in your body, it will make harder to fall asleep. Some chronic pains that can contribute to sleep disorder are:

o Chronic fatigue syndrome

o Arthritis

o Inflammatory bowel disease

o Fibromyalgia

o Continuous lower back pain

o Headache

· Anxiety and stress are other causes of sleep disorders as they have negative affects on your health.

· Nightmares, sleep walking or sleep talking are some other causes of sleep disorders.

Diagnosis:

Your doctor will perform a physical test first and take information about your symptoms and medical history. Later on, he will prescribe some tests to confirm the situation. These tests include:

· Polysomnography

This is a lab study to diagnose your sleep problem by evaluating oxygen level, body movement and brain waves.

· Electroencephalogram

This test assesses electrical activity in your brain and confirm any potential disturbance due to this activity.

· Multiple sleep latency test

This test is performed in conjunction with polysomnography to diagnose narcolepsy.

Treatment:

Sleep disorders can be treated by medications and doing simple changes in lifestyle. However it can vary according to type of disorder and its severity.