Sleep is essential to your health, safety and quality of life. Learn more about certain sleep disorders.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): Repeated or prolonged episodes of pauses in breathing or "holding your breath" during sleep. For reasons that are still unclear, in deep sleep, breathing can stop for prolonged periods (often more than 10 seconds). These periods of lack of breathing -- apneas -- are followed by sudden attempts to breathe.
Untreated complications include: Hypertension, Right-Sided Heart Failure, Abnormal Heart Rhythm, Excessive Carbon Dioxide Levels and Sleep Deprivation.
Nacolepsy: This is a disorder associated with uncontrollable sleep attacks and frequent daytime sleeping. The exact cause of Narcolepsy is unknown. Studies indicate that the disorder may be genetic. There is no known cure. Diagnosis is confirmed by sleep studies.
Insomnia: Insomnias are disorders of initiating or maintaining sleep. Trouble falling asleep is known as initial insomnia. Trouble maintaining sleep is known as maintenance insomnia.
Causes could include: Stress, worry or excitement about upcoming events, depression, pain from arthritis or other diseases and also some medications.
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS): This is a disorder characterized by leg discomfort during sleep which is relieved only by frequent moving of the legs.
Period Limb Movement (PLM): Some people's arms or legs jerk repeatedly during sleep.
Sleep Disorders in the Elderly: These involve any distruptive pattern of sleep or abormal behaviors associated with sleep.
Sleepwalking and Sleepeating: A person who suffers attacks of sleepwalking typically sits up, gets out of bed and moves about in an uncoordinated manner. Less often, he or she may dress, open doors, eat or go to the bathroom without incident. Sometimes, however, a sleepwalker may injure his or herself by stumbling against furniture, falling through a window or tumbling down stairs. Sleepwalking is most frequent in children between the ages of 4 and 8. Many adult sleepwalkers suffer from depression.Sleepeating is sometimes a danger which stems from sleepwalking.
Jet Lag Syndrome: Rapid travel across multiple time zones can result in a complaint of insomnia that may vary in intensity and specific features. The sypmtoms of jet lag are not trivial. In addition to poor sleep, individuals frequently complain of performance deficit, irritability and depression, and sleepiness at inappropriate times.
Updated: 03/2008