What is Sleep Disorders? It's Causes and Treatments

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What is Sleep Disorders? It's Causes and Treatments
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A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental, social and emotional functioning. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for some sleep disorders.

Disruptions in sleep can be caused by a variety of issues, from teeth grinding (bruxism) to night terrors. When a person suffers from difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep with no obvious cause, it is referred to as insomnia.[1]

Sleep disorders are broadly classified into dyssomnias, parasomnias, circadian rhythm sleep disorders involving the timing of sleep, and other disorders including ones caused by medical or psychological conditions and sleeping sickness.

Some common sleep disorders include sleep apnea (stops in breathing during sleep), narcolepsy and hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness at inappropriate times), cataplexy (sudden and transient loss of muscle tone while awake), and sleeping sickness (disruption of sleep cycle due to infection). Other disorders include sleepwalking, night terrors and bed wetting. Management of sleep disturbances that are secondary to mental, medical, or substance abuse disorders should focus on the underlying conditions.

Sleep disorders are most common in men and women over the age of 65. About half of the people claim to have some sleep problem at one point. It is most common in the elderly because of multiple factors. Factors include medicine, Aging in general, and pre diagnosed physiological problems and stress.


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you
For me, it's mostly from stress. All I tried is playing some relaxing music when I'm about to go to bed. Sleeping music or white sound are all great. I got my list from relaxing sound app on apknite. It works quite well, anyone can find those find at youtube or any mp3 streaming site.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for posting your query here. We will try our best to satisfy your curiosity through our answer. A sleep disorder is a disorder of the sleep patterns. These disorders affect the ability of a person to sleep well on a regular basis. Polysomnography and actigraphy are two most common tests for sleep disorders. When a person suffers from difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep with no obvious cause, then it is termed as insomnia.


Causes

#1. Allergies and Respiratory Problems

The allergies and respiratory problems can make it difficult for a person to sleep at night due to the inability to breathe through the nose.

#2. Nocturia

Nocturia is frequent urination. It can also disturb the sleep by making a person wake up at night frequently. Hormonal imbalances and urinary diseases can lead to this condition.

#3. Chronic Pain

A person who suffers from chronic pain will not be able to sleep. Physical pain will not let a person fall to sleep.

#4. Stress And Anxiety

Stress and anxiety have negative effects on sleep. A person may not fall asleep, or they may wake up multiple times from their sleep.


Treatment

The treatment of these sleep disorders varies according to the type of disorders. Doctors suggest a few medicines and a change in lifestyle to improve the sleeping patterns. The doctors prescribe sleeping pills, melatonin supplements, allergy or cold medication, medication for other health issues, breathing device or surgery, a dental guard for teeth grinding and so on. A person suffering from such sleep disorders should bring a change in their lifestyle. Improving daytime habits is one of the self-help. Having a consistent sleep schedule, exercising daily, limiting caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine will help in managing sleep pattern.

Sleep in a quiet place that is dark and cold. Have light meals at night. A person can try taking warm baths or listen to soothing music. Stress is one of the causes of sleeping disorders, so it is important to unwind before sleeping. Switch off the television screens an hour before sleeping. Get rid of all the technology from the bedroom as the appliances emit radiations that can also disrupt sleep. Reading books can also help a person sleep.

Every person wakes up at night even without a disorder. People should try to sleep back every time they wake up. If a person cannot sleep again, then they should try focusing on their breathing. People can try other relaxation techniques that can help them get back to sleep. If there is something in the environment that disturbs the sleep, then get rid of it. One should not think about how they are not able to sleep. It is important to shift the focus from the stress and anxiety to sleeping naturally.


We hope the information provided above was useful. Write to us for further queries. We would be happy to help.

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Team AskOpinion

( Image Courtesy: 1. Www.avensonline.org, 2. Sleepopolis, 3. Rhythmic Healing Art Studio)


When you normally or occasionally aren’t able to sleep that is quiet normal. However, when you are having problem in sleeping and are not getting any quality sleep, that is called sleeping disorder. Having trouble in sleeping regularly can affect you physically and mentally. It makes you frustrated and exhausted at the time of day. It makes you not concentrate on what you need to do in the entire day. It can become a debilitating experience who suffers sleeping disorders on regular basis. You can feel irritated and sleepy at the day time. You can stay up at the whole night and can have difficulty in concentrating on something. You can require caffeine a lot. The causes can be migraine, or night time shift at the workplace or any kind of tension. This can be some major reasons of having sleeping disorder. The treatment of sleeping disorder actually depends on what kind of disorder you have. However, only medical treatment is not enough in order to treat sleeping disorder. You will have to change your lifestyle a bit to finish the sleeping disorder from root. Both of the treatment has to done at the same time and sleeping disorder can be reduced.



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