Sleep Disorders

For those patients who have consistent sleep problems that are having a profound or sustained impact on their lives, physicians may recommend the use of prescription sleeping medicines. Where prescription sleeping pills were once actually depression medications that were used for their sedative effects, the new class of sleeping pills works specifically on the sleep cycle rather than as a secondary effect. All of these drugs are much more powerful than any of the over the counter or natural remedies that are available, and it is important that people taking them understand the impact that they have on their bodies and brain functions: prescription sleeping aids interfere with your ability to concentrate, make informed decisions and react quickly, so tasks such as driving or operating heavy machinery should never be undertaken while they are active in your system.  Continue reading →

When you are not feeling well, regardless of what your condition is, it is often difficult to get the sleep you need. Something as ordinary and benign as the common cold may keep us up at night with a dripping nose or cough; allergies can do the same. Other physical conditions may not physically interfere with our sleep but may still have an effect on the quality of our rest as we lay awake and worry. Still other illnesses have sleep disruption as a symptom. Treating the condition may help with getting a good night sleep, which is important because getting adequate rest is an integral part of our overall health.  Continue reading →

There are a couple of syndromes involving the legs that can have a negative impact on your ability to sleep, your partner’s ability to sleep, and the quality of the sleep that you get. They are restless leg syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder. Restless leg syndrome is a problem that its sufferers are all too aware of, while periodic limb movement disorder is generally known because of the extreme daytime exhaustion of those who have it, or reports from their sleeping partners. Both can cause insomnia or sleep deprivation. Continue reading →

In addition to the familiar sleep problem of insomnia, many people find that their good night’s sleep can be disrupted by a variety of oddities and pathologies that rob them, or their sleep partners, of the rest that they need. Let’s take a look at a few of the most common things that can go wrong while we’re sleeping.

 Night Terrors

Like sleep walking, night terrors occur when we are in a state of partial arousal following a period of deep sleep. They are most commonly experienced by children, and have a tendency to run in families though when children get them they are not indicative of any kind of psychological malady; in the rare instances that adults have night terrors they may be associated with one of several mood disorders, including anxiety or obsessive compulsive disorder. Continue reading →

Sleepwalking is another example of a sleep behavior that has been made humorous in television shows and situation comedies, but is often no laughing matter.  Sleepwalking can happen to both children and adults – in fact, it is far more common in children  - but when it happens in adulthood the risk of injury and danger is far greater.

The official medical word for sleepwalking is somnambulism. Most people have done it at least once, but usually during childhood; approximately fifteen percent of children have chronic episodes of sleepwalking. In most cases, children sleepwalk between the ages of four and twelve, though they can start as soon as they are able to crawl, and ten is the most likely age for it to occur. By the time children reach adulthood they grow out of sleepwalking – in fact only one adult out of every two hundred will ever sleepwalk. Continue reading →