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Understanding Sleep Disorders!

Sleep is an essential part of life, as important as the food we eat and the air we breathe. It is a time of rest and renewal. But more than that, sleep is a time for the brain and body to do a little housekeeping. Like taking out the garbage, the stuff that is not necessary for life, that will overpower or fascinate us, just takes up a lot of space or our attention is moved to some other place, is cleared away during sleep.

We need sleep to restore and protect our brains and metabolisms, to keep our memories and judgment sharp, to take away the daytime buildup of waste that may be a factor in dementia, heart disease, and other conditions that can make for an unhealthy and shorter life. Just like a good diet and exercise program, a healthy amount of sleep is strongly associated with a better quality of emotional and physical life and is a better predictor of longevity than many other factors.

Types of Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders are defined as changes in sleeping patterns or habits that can negatively affect health. The major categories of sleep disorders include: Difficulty falling asleep at night Frequently waking up during the night Unrealistic or terrifying nightmares Sleepwalking or sleep talking Insomnia is a persistent problem with falling asleep, staying asleep, or achieving restful sleep.

People with insomnia suffer from one or more of the following: difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently during the night with difficulty returning to sleep, waking too early in the morning, or feeling unrefreshed.

Other common sleep disorders include: narcolepsy, a disorder typically involving falling asleep during the day; cataplexy, sudden and temporary loss of muscle control; hypersomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness; sleep paralysis; and night terrors, which cause intense fear and may be accompanied by screaming or vocal sounds but cannot be recalled. Often, the terms “sleep disorder” and “sleep problem” are used interchangeably. Only a doctor can diagnose a person, stating that some sleeping problems may be considered sleep disorders.

Impact on Health

Insufficient sleep syndrome is not a rare problem. It affects about fifty million Americans. It is therefore a common aspect of everyday life, but little research has been carried out on the subject, and few care units specifically set up for this pathology exist.

The syndrome was recognized as a major problem, which has the potential to cause human errors in some professions that need to be managed if society is to develop toward a more equitable balance between work and leisure. Indeed, a medical team unit making an early diagnosis of the syndrome will prevent depressive illnesses and circulatory and metabolic deficiencies, a common cause of obesity.

Also, insomnia most often turns into a chronic disease, and about ten percent of the general adult population in the United States are victims of it. Psychological complaints in patients, such as anxiety, irritability, and unjustified panic, are frequently observed but are most often considered as causes.

If relief is to be obtained over a long period, it can only be achieved by reducing other sleep inhibition factors with good hypnogenesis. Community-based studies have shown that one third of all adults may have insomnia at some time, one fifth may have a problem falling asleep, one quarter may be chronically sleep-deprived, and approximately one third may sleep only a few hours per night.

It is estimated that seventeen percent of the European adult population has functional insomnia and that at least six percent meet the diagnostic criteria for insomnia, i.e., non-restorative sleep for at least six months, associated with daytime symptoms such as reduction of motivation, difficulties in daily activities, irritability, depression, anxiety, etc.

A quarter of these insomniacs have a moderate to severe complaint. Many studies have indicated some influence of age, mainly a reduction of sleep duration and sleep consolidation in older adults, and an increase in the prevalence of headaches as age increases. Insomnia in all its forms involves three categories of factors: physical factors responsible for poor hypnogenesis, temporary stress factors responsible for an excess of arousal, and anxiety-depressive syndromes.

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