Sleep Is Important To Your Health

The National Institute Of Health estimate that 50 to 70 million Americans are affected by chronic sleep disorders and intermittent sleep problems. These sleep problems can significantly diminish health alertness and safety.

The National Sleep Foundation

www.sleepfoundation.org

Welcome To The Sleep Disorder Diagnostic Center

Sleep Disorders Defined:

A sleep disorder (somnipathy) is a medical condition on the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning. A test commonly ordered for some sleep disorders is the polysomnogram.

More than 100 different disorders of sleeping and waking have been identified. They can be grouped into these four main categories:

PROBLEMS FALLING AND STAYING ASLEEP

This includes any combination of difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, intermittent wakefulness and awakening too early. This would include the following: physical illness, depression anxiety, poor sleeping environment such as excessive noise or light, caffeine, alcohol, heavy smoking,l discomfort and daytime napping.

PROBLEMS STAYING AWAKE

Excessive sleepiness is called hypersomnias. These include: sleep apnea narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, idiopathic hypersomnia, and respiratory muscle weakness associated sleep disorder

PROBLEMS ADHERING TO A REGULAR SLEEP SCHEDULE

Problems may occur when maintaining a consistent sleep and wake schedule is disrupted. This occurs when traveling between times zones and with shift workers on rotating schedules, particularly nighttime workers.

Sleep disruption disorders include: sleep state misperception (the person actually sleeps a different amount than they think they do), shift work sleep disorder, chronic time-zone-change syndrome, irregular sleep-wake syndrome

SLEEP-DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS

Abnormal behaviors during sleep are called parasomnias and are fairly common in children.

These include: sleep terror disorder, sleep walking REM sleep behavior disorder (a type of psychosis related to lack of REM sleep and lack of dreaming).

How Is Your Sleep?

Check If Any Of The Following Apply To You:

Snore Loudly

You or others have observed that you stop breathing or gasp for air during the night.

Feel sleepy or doze off while watching TV, reading driving or engaging in daily activities.

Difficulty sleeping three nights a week of more (e.g. trouble falling asleep, wake frequently during the night or wake too earlye and cannot get back to sleep.

Feel unpleasant, tingling, creeping feelings or nervousness and the urge to move your legs while trying to sleep.

interruptions to your sleep (e.g., nightime heartburn, disturbing dreams, pain and discomfort, noise, difficulty of sleep with other family members, light or temperature.