|
|
Sleep disordersDefinition Sleep disorders involve any difficulties related to sleeping, including difficulty falling or staying asleep, falling asleep at inappropriate times, excessive total sleep time, or abnormal behaviors associated with sleep. Causes, incidence, and risk factors More than 100 different disorders of sleeping and waking have been identified. They can be grouped in four main categories:
PROBLEMS WITH FALLING AND STAYING ASLEEP Insomnia includes any combination of difficulty with falling asleep, staying asleep, intermittent wakefulness and early-morning awakening. Episodes may be transient, short-term (lasting as long as 2 to 3 weeks), or chronic. Common factors associated with insomnia include:
Disorders include:
PROBLEMS WITH STAYING AWAKE Disorders of excessive sleepiness are called hypersomnias. These include:
Sleep apnea more commonly affects obese people, but it may affect anyone with a short neck or a small jaw, regardless of weight. The disorder causes breathing to stop intermittently during sleep, resulting in the person being awakened repeatedly. People with sleep apnea often have difficulty achieving prolonged deep sleep. This results in excessive daytime sleepiness. Narcolepsy is a condition of daytime sleep attacks as well as other features that may include sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations. Sleep attacks occur despite adequate sleep at night. A person with narcolepsy may suddenly fall asleep in any situation, without warning. Restless leg syndrome is characterized by an uncomfortable sensation, usually in the legs, that occurs primarily at night and when a person is relaxed. The uncomfortable sensation diminishes when the legs are moved. This is commonly associated with periodic limb movement disorder, in which a patient has limb movements during sleep. It usually causes insomnia and may cause daytime sleepiness. PROBLEMS WITH ADHERING TO A REGULAR SLEEP SCHEDULE Problems may also occur when maintaining a consistent sleep and wake schedule is disrupted. This occurs when traveling between times zones and with shift workers on rotating schedules, particularly nighttime workers. Sleep disruption disorders include:
SLEEP-DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS Abnormal behaviors during sleep are called parasomnias and are fairly common in children. They include:
Sleep terror disorder is an abrupt awakening from sleep with fear, sweating, rapid heart rate, and confusion. Sleepwalking is usually not remembered by the person doing it, and usually affects children 2 to 12 years old. In adults, sleepwalking may also be caused by an organic brain syndrome, reactions to drugs, psychological disorders, and certain medical conditions. Symptoms
Signs and tests
Treatment INSOMNIA The treatment is related to the cause, if the cause can be determined. If there is an obvious physical or psychological disorder causing insomnia, it should be treated. Depression is a very common cause of insomnia and can usually be treated with medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, or interpersonal therapy. Attempts to control environmental and lifestyle factors such as too much light, noise, caffeine or other stimulants or erratic hours of wakefulness should be made. Sleeping drugs should be used only when prescribed by a health care provider. HYPERSOMNIA Sleep apnea is treated with weight reduction and the administration of air under pressure through the nose. Occasionally, surgery or other measures may be needed. Narcolepsy is treated by use of stimulating medications during the daytime. A new medication called modafanil seems to have fewer side effects than traditional stimulants. It is FDA-approved for narcolepsy and may soon be approved for shift work sleep disorder. Restless leg syndrome is treated by treating the underlying disorder and with opiate or dopaminergic agonists. PARASOMNIA Night terrors are treated with hypnosis, guided imagery techniques and benzodiazepines, but safety measures may be needed to prevent people from harm during nighttime walking. Sleep disorder clinics often are able to help people restore normal sleeping patterns through various techniques. Expectations (prognosis) The outcome varies with the type of disorder. Some disorders may clear up on their own. Complications A complication is dependence upon sedatives or other medications prescribed for sleep disorders. Calling your health care provider Call for an appointment with your health care provider if lack of sleep or too much sleep is interfering with daily living. Also call if breath-holding spells are observed during sleep. Prevention Maintaining regular sleep habits and a quiet sleep environment may prevent some sleep disorders. Illustrations
Page Content: sleep disorder; sleep disorder center; child sleep disorder; sleep disorder clinic; sleep disorder remedy; rem sleep disorder; sleep disorder in child; circadian rhythm sleep disorder; toddler sleep disorder; sleep terror disorder; insomnia sleep disorder; american sleep disorder association; treatment for sleep disorder; sleep apnea disorder; rem sleep behavior disorder; infant sleep disorder; anxiety sleep disorder; sleep disorder symptom; shift work sleep disorder; chronic sleep disorder; medication for sleep disorder; disorder narcolepsy sleep; international classification of sleep disorder; anxiety depression disorder sleep treatment; information on sleep disorder; cause of sleep disorder; type of sleep disorder; pediatric sleep disorder; article on sleep disorder; sleep disorder in toddler; disorder sleep snoring; adhd and sleep disorder; sleep eating disorder; sleep disorder ca; childhood sleep disorder; disorder fibromyalgia sleep; rare sleep disorder; sleep disorder doctor; night terror sleep disorder; baby sleep disorder; condition sleep disorder state; disorder sleep study; sleep disorder test; sleep paralysis disorder; disorder research sleep; depression and sleep disorder; disorder physician sleep; disorder in infant sleep; teen sleep disorder; sleep and sleep disorder; hallucinatory sleep disorder; bed wetting sleep disorder; disorder in new sleep specialist york; sleep related eating disorder; sleep disorder statistics; sleep disorder diagnosis; disorder grandrounds on sleep; bipolar disorder sleep; breathing disorder sleep; california center disorder sleep; sleep disorder book; minnesota regional sleep disorder center; disorder sleep tx; daytime disorder excessive sleep sleepiness term; deep sleep disorder; disorder n sleep; delayed sleep phase disorder; disorder fl sleep; sleep disorder dream; greater washington sleep disorder center; rbd sleep disorder; sleep disorder and autism; sleep disorder center of georgia; sleep disorder medicine; sleep disorder and menopause; common sleep disorder; nocturnal sleep related eating disorder; sleep disorder quiz; disorder seizure sleep; sleep sex disorder; life cycle sleep disorder; sleep disorder and ambien; disorder il sleep; disorder nh sleep; stanford sleep disorder clinic; sleep disorder ny; clinic disorder quebec sleep; sleep disorder and attention deficit; disorder picture sleep; sleep disorder specialist; sleep disorder clinic and canada; teenage sleep disorder; center disorder quebec sleep; sleep apnea sleep disorder; sleep disorder center canada; sleep disorder depression anxiety; apnea disorder newsletter sleep; cure disorder sleep; sleep disorder epilepsy; adolescent sleep disorder |
   |
