Sleep Disorders Ruin People's Lives

If you suffer from sleep disorders that we advise that go to see your GP and visit a sleep clinic. But you can certainly benefit from The Power Up Enhanced Sleep program to help you get a better night’s sleep but medical advice from your GP is a must too.

The below are Sleep Disorders taken from the WebMD website;

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

When you have this condition, your breath can become very shallow or you may even stop breathing -- briefly -- while you sleep. It can happen many times a night in some people.

Obstructive sleep apnea happens when something partly or completely blocks your upper airway during shut-eye. That makes your diaphragm and chest muscles work harder to open the obstructed airway and pull air into the lungs. Breathing usually resumes with a loud gasp, snort, or body jerk. You may not sleep well, but you probably won't be aware that this is happening.

The condition can also reduce the flow of oxygen to vital organs and cause irregular heart rhythms.

Sleep and Hypersomnia

Hypersomnia, which refers to either excessive daytime sleepiness or excessive time spent sleeping, is a condition in which a person has trouble staying awake during the day. People who have hypersomnia can fall asleep at any time -- for instance, at work or while they are driving. They may also have other sleep-related problems, including a lack of energy and trouble thinking clearly.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, up to 40% of people have some symptoms of hypersomnia from time to time.

Causes of Hypersomnia

There are several potential causes of hypersomnia, including:

The sleep disorders narcolepsy (daytime sleepiness) and sleep apnea (interruptions of breathing during sleep)

Not getting enough sleep at night (sleep deprivation)

Being overweight

Drug or alcohol abuse

A head injury or a neurological disease, such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease

Prescription drugs, such as tranquilizers or antihistamines

Genetics (having a relative with hypersomnia)

Depression

An Overview of Insomnia

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep. People with insomnia have one or more of the following symptoms:

Difficulty falling asleep

Waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep

Waking up too early in the morning

Feeling tired upon waking

Types of Insomnia

There are two types of insomnia: primary insomnia and secondary insomnia.

Primary insomnia: Primary insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems that are not directly associated with any other health condition or problem.

Secondary insomnia: Secondary insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems because of something else, such as a health condition (like asthma, depression, arthritis, cancer, or heartburn); pain; medication they are taking; or a substance they are using (like alcohol).

Acute vs. Chronic Insomnia

Insomnia also varies in how long it lasts and how often it occurs. It can be short-term (acute insomnia) or can last a long time (chronic insomnia). It can also come and go, with periods of time when a person has no sleep problems. Acute insomnia can last from one night to a few weeks. Insomnia is called chronic when a person has insomnia at least three nights a week for a month or longer.

Causes of Insomnia

Causes of acute insomnia can include:

· Significant life stress (job loss or change, death of a loved one, divorce, moving)

· Illness

· Emotional or physical discomfort

· Environmental factors like noise, light, or extreme temperatures (hot or cold) that interfere with sleep

· Some medications (for example those used to treat colds, allergies, depression, high blood pressure, and asthma) may interfere with sleep

· Interferences in normal sleep schedule (jet lag or switching from a day to night shift, for example)

Causes of chronic insomnia include:

· Depression and/or anxiety

· Chronic stress

· Pain or discomfort at night

Symptoms of Insomnia

· Sleepiness during the day

· General tiredness

· Irritability

· Problems with concentration or memory

· Diagnosing Insomnia

If you think you have insomnia, talk to your health care provider. An evaluation may include a physical exam, a medical history, and a sleep history. You may be asked to keep a sleep diary for a week or two, keeping track of your sleep patterns and how you feel during the day. Your health care provider may want to interview your bed partner about the quantity and quality of your sleep. In some cases, you may be referred to a sleep center for special tests.

Treatment for Insomnia

Acute insomnia may not require treatment. Mild insomnia often can be prevented or cured by practicing good sleep habits (see below). If your insomnia makes it hard for you to function during the day because you are sleepy and tired, your health care provider may prescribe sleeping pills for a limited time. Rapid onset, short-acting drugs can help you avoid effects such as drowsiness the following day. Avoid using over-the-counter sleeping pills for insomnia, because they may have undesired side effects and tend to lose their effectiveness over time.

Treatment for chronic insomnia includes first treating any underlying conditions or health problems that are causing the insomnia. If insomnia continues, your health care provider may suggest behavioural therapy.

Behavioural approaches help you to change behaviours that may worsen insomnia and to learn new behaviour's to promote sleep. Techniques such as relaxation exercises, sleep restriction therapy, and reconditioning may be useful.

Good Sleep Habits for Beating Insomnia

Good sleep habits, also called sleep hygiene, can help you get a good night's sleep and beat insomnia. Here are some tips:

· Try to go to sleep at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning. Try not to take naps during the day, because naps may make you less sleepy at night.

· Avoid prolonged use of phones or reading devices ("e-books") that give off light before bed. This can make it harder to fall asleep.

· Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol late in the day. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants and can keep you from falling asleep. Alcohol can cause waking in the night and interferes with sleep quality.

· Get regular exercise. Try not to exercise close to bedtime, because it may stimulate you and make it hard to fall asleep. Experts suggest not exercising for at least three to four hours before the time you go to sleep.

· Don't eat a heavy meal late in the day. A light snack before bedtime, however, may help you sleep.

· Make your bedroom comfortable. Be sure that it is dark, quiet, and not too warm or too cold. If light is a problem, try a sleeping mask. If noise is a problem, try earplugs, a fan, or a "white noise" machine to cover up the sounds.

· Follow a routine to help you relax before sleep. Read a book, listen to music, or take a bath.

· Avoid using your bed for anything other than sleep or sex.

· If you can't fall asleep and don't feel drowsy, get up and read or do something that is not overly stimulating until you feel sleepy.

· If you find yourself lying awake worrying about things, try making a to-do list before you go to bed. This may help you to not focus on those worries overnight.

Sleep Disorders and Parasomnias

Parasomnias are disruptive sleep disorders that can occur during arousals from REM sleep or partial arousals from non-REM sleep. Parasomnias include nightmares, night terrors, sleepwalking, confusional arousals, and many others.

Nightmares

Nightmares are vivid night-time events that can cause feelings of fear, terror, and/or anxiety. Usually, the person having a nightmare is abruptly awakened from REM sleep and is able to describe detailed dream content. Returning to sleep is usually difficult. Nightmares can be caused by many factors, including illness, anxiety, the loss of a loved one, or negative reactions to a medication. Call your doctor if nightmares occur more than once a week or if nightmares prevent you from getting a good night's sleep for a prolonged period of time.

Night Terrors

A person experiencing a night terror abruptly awakes from sleep in a terrified state, but is confused and unable to communicate. They do not respond to voices and are difficult to fully awaken. Night terrors last about 15 minutes, after which time the person usually lies down and appears to fall back asleep. People who have night terrors (sometimes called sleep terrors) usually don't remember the events the next morning. Night terrors are similar to nightmares, but usually occur during deep sleep.

People experiencing sleep terrors may pose dangers to themselves or others because of limb movements. Night terrors are fairly common in children, mostly between ages 3 and 8. Children with sleep terrors will often also talk in their sleep or sleepwalk. This sleep disorder, which may run in families, also can occur in adults. Strong emotional tension and/or the use of alcohol can increase the incidence of night terrors among adults.

Sleepwalking

Sleepwalking occurs when a person appears to be awake and moving around, but is actually asleep. He or she has no memory of the episode. Sleepwalking most often occurs during deep non-REM sleep (stages 3 and 4 sleep) early in the night and it can occur during REM sleep in the early morning. This disorder is most commonly seen in children between ages 5 and 12; however, sleepwalking can occur among younger children, adults, and seniors.

Sleepwalking appears to run in families. Contrary to what many people believe, it is not dangerous to wake a person who is sleepwalking. The sleepwalker simply may be confused or disoriented for a short time upon awakening. Although waking a sleepwalker is not dangerous, sleepwalking itself can be dangerous, because the person is unaware of his or her surroundings and can bump into objects or fall down. In most children, it tends to stop as they enter the teen years.

REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder

Normal sleep has two distinct states: non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. NREM sleep is divided into four stages. During REM sleep, rapid eye movements occur, breathing becomes irregular, blood pressure rises, and there is a loss of muscle tone (paralysis). However, the brain is highly active, and the electrical activity recorded in the brain by EEG during REM sleep is similar to that recorded during wakefulness. REM sleep is usually associated with dreaming. REM sleep accounts for 20%-25% of the sleep period.

In a person with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), the paralysis that normally occurs during REM sleep is incomplete or absent, allowing the person to "act out" his or her dreams. RBD is characterized by the acting out of dreams that are vivid, intense, and violent. Dream-enacting behaviors include talking, yelling, punching, kicking, sitting, jumping from bed, arm flailing, and grabbing. An acute form may occur during withdrawal from alcohol or sedative-hypnotic drugs.

Causes of REM Sleep Disorder

The exact cause of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is unknown, although the disorder may occur in association with various degenerative neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease, multisystem atrophy, diffuse Lewy body dementia, and Shy-Drager syndrome. In 55% of persons the cause is unknown, and in 45%, the cause is associated with alcohol or sedative-hypnotic withdrawal, tricyclic antidepressant (such as imipramine), or serotonin reuptake inhibitor use (such as fluoxetine, sertraline, or paroxetine) or other types of antidepressants (mirtazapine).

RBD often precedes the development of these neurodegenerative diseases by several years. In one study, 38% of patients diagnosed with RBD subsequently developed Parkinson's disease within an average time of 12-13 years from the onset of RBD symptoms. Also, RBD is seen in 69% of those with Parkinson's disease and multisystem atrophy. The relationship between RBD and Parkinson disease is complex; however, not all persons with RBD develop Parkinson's disease.

Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Disorders

Circadian rhythm disorders are disruptions in a person's circadian rhythm -- a name given to the "internal body clock" that regulates the (approximately) 24-hour cycle of biological processes. The term circadian comes from Latin words that literally mean around the day. There are patterns of brain wave activity, hormone production, cell regeneration, and other biological activities linked to this 24-hour cycle.

The circadian rhythm is important in determining sleeping patterns such as when we sleep and when we wake, every 24 hours.The normal circadian clock is set by the light-dark cycle over 24 hours.

What Causes Circadian Rhythm Disorders?

Circadian rhythm disorders can be caused by many factors, including:

Shift work

Pregnancy

Time zone changes

Medications

Changes in routine such as staying up late or sleeping in

Medical problems including Alzheimer's or Parkinson disease

Mental health problems

Common Circadian Rhythm Disorders

Jet Lag or Rapid Time Zone Change Syndrome: This syndrome consists of symptoms that include excessive sleepiness and a lack of daytime alertness in people who travel across time zones.

Shift Work Sleep Disorder: This sleep disorder affects people who frequently rotate shifts or work at night.

Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS): This is a disorder of sleep timing. People with DSPS tend to fall asleep very late at night and have difficulty waking up in time for work, school, or social engagements.

Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPD): This is a disorder in which a person goes to sleep earlier and wakes earlier than desired. ASPD results in symptoms of evening sleepiness, going to bed earlier (for example, between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.), and waking up earlier than desired (for example, between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.)

Non 24-Hour Sleep Wake Disorder: This disorder frequently affects those that are totally blind since the circadian clock is set by light-dark cycle over a 24 hour period. In non-24 hour sleep wake disorder the cycle is disturbed. The disorder result in drastically reduced sleep time and sleep quality at night and problems with sleepiness during daylight hours.

Sleep Disorders and Periodic Limb Movement Disorder

Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD) is a sleep disorder characterized by rhythmic movements of the limbs during sleep. The movements typically involve the legs, but upper extremity movements may also occur. Movements occur periodically throughout the night and can fluctuate in severity from one night to the next. They tend to cluster in episodes that last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. These movements are very different from the normal spasms, called hypnic myoclonia, that we often experience initially while trying to fall asleep.

What Causes PLMD?

The causes of PLMD are unknown. However recent research has shown that people with a variety of medical problems, including Parkinson's disease and narcolepsy, may have frequent periodic limb movements in sleep.

PLMD may be caused by medications, most notably, antidepressants.

What Are the Symptoms of PLMD?

Symptoms of PLMD are usually leg movements with the extension of the big toe in combination with a partial flexing of the ankle, knee, or hip. Movement of the legs is more typical than movement of the arms. It can often cause a partial or full brief awakening, resulting in fragmented sleep. Patients are frequently unaware of these movements.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. People with narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime. These sudden sleep attacks may occur during any type of activity at any time of the day.

In a typical sleep cycle, we initially enter the early stages of sleep followed by deeper sleep stages and ultimately (after about 90 minutes) rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. For people suffering from narcolepsy, REM sleep occurs almost immediately in the sleep cycle, as well as periodically during the waking hours. It is in REM sleep that we can experience dreams and muscle paralysis -- which explains some of the symptoms of narcolepsy.