Sleep Disorders

Sleep is an active state, which is vital for renewing our mental and physical state. There are many disorders of that lower the quality of life and reduce person health. They can also endanger public safety by contributing to traffic and industrial accidents. These disorders can lead to problems falling asleep and staying awake, difficulties staying awake or staying within a regular sleep/wake cycle, sleep walking, bed wetting, nightmares and other problems that interfere with sleep.

Sleep Apnea

This condition is when the patient actually stops breathing during sleep. This is most likely associated with snoring and is referred to as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). The muscles that stiffen and open in the throat cause this condition. In normal sleep these muscles relax and cause a narrowing of the throat. However, in patients with OSA, this narrowing of the breathing passage is so great the breathing becomes difficult. The sleeping brain senses that breathing is difficult and increases the effort to breathe. Eventually this increased effort awakens the brain, which signals the throat muscles to become active again and reopen the breathing passage. With the breathing passage open again, the effort to breath decreases and the person goes back to sleep.

This cycle of falling asleep, throat narrowing, increased effort to breathe and then arousal from sleep tends to repeat itself throughout the sleep cycle and can disturb sleep dozens to hundreds of times each night. Most of these awakenings are so brief that they are not remembered the next day. An individual with this pattern of obstructed breathing, brief awakenings from sleep, and daytime symptoms of fatigue and drowsiness is said to have OSA.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder defined by constant sleepiness and a tendency to sleep at inappropriate times. Typically, a person with narcolepsy suffers sleep attacks as well as continual sleepiness and a feeling of tiredness that is not completely relieved by any amount of sleep. If not recognized and appropriately managed, narcolepsy can drastically and negatively affect the quality of a person’s life.

This condition is confirmed by a sleep study and then a treatment plan is implemented with can include: medication, behavior treatment and management of your environment.

Insomnia

Insomnia is the condition in which the patient has trouble falling asleep and/or maintaining sleep. This is a problem which affects almost 1 out of 3 Americans at some time during their life. Insomnia disturbs your day and your night. It can make you fatigues during the day causing you difficulty in focusing on tasks. Insomnia can occur in all age groups although it is more common in women and older adults. Treatment of insomnia requires you and your doctor to explore the caused and effects of the problem as well as what treatments work for you.  This may include medication and/or behavioral treatments.

Parasomnia

Parasomnia is used in reference to a wide range of disruptive sleep-related events. These behaviors and experiences generally occur during sleep and in most cases are infrequent and mild. At times, them may occur often enough or become so bothersome that medical attention is required.

The most common of the parasomnias are "disorders of arousal" which include confusional arousals, sleepwalking (somnambulism) and sleep terrors. Experts believe that the various arousal disorders are related and share some characteristic. Essentially, these occur when a person is in a mixed state, both asleep and awake, and often emerging from the deepest stage of non-dreaming sleep. The sleeper is wake enough to act out complex behaviors; but is still asleep and not aware of or able to remember these activities.

The treatment for arousal disorders can be simple precautions to ensure the safety of the patient with arousal disorder. Clearing the bedroom of obstructions, securing windows and installing lock or alarms on window and doors can add a degree of security for the individual and the family.
In cases severe enough that the sleep disorder leads to injury or involves violence, excessive eating, or disturbance to others, treatment may be warranted. Therapy can include medical intervention with prescription drugs, or behavior modification.

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)

Restless Legs Syndrome is a movement disorder. It involves an intense urge to move your legs often at bedtime. RLS symptoms vary from person to person and these symptoms are often hard to describe. Many people say their legs feel "creepy" or "crawly". This is quite different from the pain of a muscle cramp. The uncomfortable sensations of RLS appear most often in the claves of the legs. They are usually worse when sitting or lying still. Some people have symptoms in the arms and other parts of the body. Nightly symptoms can create a constant need to stretch or move the legs. This may prevent the patient from falling asleep or staying asleep, as a result people with RLS often have poor sleep quality. They may be very tired during the day. They also may be unable to perform well at work or take part in social activities.

Treatment for RSL depends on what underlying medical conditions may be causing the symptoms. A variety of test will be made to determine if your complaints are related to any other medical condition. These test might include, blood work, x-rays or an overnight sleep study.