Posted: August 31st, 2022

Sleep Disorders

Sleep Disorders
Sleep disorders is a collective term used to describe a wide range of conditions that affect a person’s ability to get enough and quality sleep, often causing daytime sleepiness and reduced functionality. Sleep disorders are relatively common worldwide. According to the American Sleep Association (AMA), between 50 to 70 million American adults are currently living with different sleep disorders, insomnia being the most prevalent. Most of us have also had our rough share of the nights when we could not fall asleep. In most cases, sleep problems are only temporary and are caused by stress or fatigue from travel, which resolves within a few days or weeks. However, if the problems grow into a routine over weeks and into months, the chances are that you are suffering from a sleep disorder.
Signs and Symptoms of sleep disorders
Symptoms are specific to each sleep disorder. However, typical symptoms encompass excessive daytime sleepiness, increased movements during sleep, and irregular breathing patterns when asleep. Other common symptoms include difficulties falling asleep or waking up, and irregular sleep and wake cycles. When left untreated, sleep disorders can impair one’s social life, lower daytime functionality, increase the risk of developing other health conditions, and lower the quality of life.
Types of sleep disorders
There are numerous types of sleep disorders. Most of them are often categorized according to similarities in symptoms and how they affect a person. It could be based on behavioral effects, breathing problems, the impacts on the sleep cycle, and if they cause daytime sleepiness. Some of the most types of sleep disorders include;
• Insomnia. It is the most prevalent and is characterized by difficulties in falling asleep or staying asleep at night. Insomnia is often temporal and is mostly caused by stress, medications, jet lag, or simply taking coffee before bed. It can also be caused by mood problems caused by anxiety and depression.
• Sleep Apnea is when you have problems with your breathing when asleep. Sleep apnea causes one to stop breathing temporarily during sleep awakening you regularly throughout the night.
• Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that makes you excessively sleepy during the day and falling asleep inappropriately like when driving or in the middle of a task.
• Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) or the Willis-Ekbom disease is a condition that causes frequent and compulsive urge to move legs or arms during sleep. The urge is triggered by an uncomfortable tingly and creepy sensation on your limbs when at the state of rest.
Diagnosis and treatment
While most sleep disorders resolve easily with time, serious conditions may require help from a sleep specialist. The most successful treatment plans integrate both medical treatments and lifestyle adjustments. Some simple lifestyle changes that can help improve sleep quality include reducing or avoiding caffeine intake, establishing a regular bedtime routine, managing stress and depression, stopping or lowering the intake of tobacco and alcohol, and maintaining a healthy weight.
References
Pavlova, M. K., & Latreille, V. (2019). Sleep disorders. The American Journal of Medicine, 132(3), 292-299.
Thorpy, M. (2017). International classification of sleep disorders. In Sleep disorders medicine (pp. 475-484). Springer, New York, NY.
Xie, Z., Chen, F., Li, W. A., Geng, X., Li, C., Meng, X., … & Yu, F. (2017). A review of sleep disorders and melatonin. Neurological research, 39(6), 559-565.

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