What is sleep?
Sleep is a complex biological process. While you are sleeping, you are unconscious, but your brain and body functions are still active. They are doing a number of important jobs that help you stay healthy and function at your best. So when you don't get enough quality sleep, it does more than just make you feel tired. It can affect your physical and mental health, thinking, and daily functioning
About Sleep
Sleep is a complex biological process that helps people process new information, stay healthy, and re-energize. Periods of sleep and wakefulness are part of how our bodies function. Although you are resting while you sleep, your brain remains highly active. Sleep consists of different stages that repeat several times each night. During sleep, the brain cycles through two distinct phases: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep.1 Not completing the full sleep process can stress your body.
What are sleep disorders?
Sleep disorders are conditions that disturb your normal sleep patterns. There are more than 80 different sleep disorders.
Some major types include:
- Insomnia -: Being unable to fall asleep and stay asleep. This is the most common sleep disorder.
- Sleep apnea -: A breathing disorder in which you stop breathing for 10 seconds or more during sleep
- Restless leg syndrome (RLS) -: A tingling or prickly sensation in your legs, along with a powerful urge to move them.
- Hypersomnia -: being unable to stay awake during the day. This includes narcolepsy, which causes extreme daytime sleepiness.
- Circadian rhythm disorders -: problems with the sleep-wake cycle. They make you unable to sleep and wake at the right times.
- Parasomnia -: acting in unusual ways while falling asleep, sleeping, or waking from sleep, such as walking, talking, or eating
Some people who feel tired during the day have a true sleep disorder. But for others, the real problem is not allowing enough time for sleep. It's important to get enough sleep every night. The amount of sleep you need depends on several factors, including your age, lifestyle, health, and whether you have been getting enough sleep recently. Most adults need about 7-8 hours each night.
What causes sleep disorders?
There are different causes for different sleep disorders, including:
- Other conditions, such as heart disease, lung disease, nerve disorders, and pain
- Mental illnesses, including depression and anxiety
- Medicines
- Genetics
There are also some factors that can contribute to sleep problems, including:
- Caffeine and alcohol
- An irregular schedule, such as working the night shift
- As people age, they often get less sleep or spend less time in the deep, restful stage of sleep. They are also more easily awakened.
What Are The Symptoms Of Sleep Disorders?
The symptoms of sleep disorders depend on the specific disorder. Some signs that you may have a sleep disorder include that:
- You regularly take more than 30 minutes each night to fall asleep.
- You regularly wake up several times each night and then have trouble falling back to sleep, or you wake up too early in the morning.
- You often feel sleepy during the day, take frequent naps, or fall asleep at the wrong times during the day.
- Your bed partner says that when you sleep, you snore loudly, snort, gasp, make choking sounds, or stop breathing for short periods.
- You have creeping, tingling, or crawling feelings in your legs or arms that are relieved by moving or massaging them, especially in the evening and when trying to fall asleep.
- Your bed partner notices that your legs or arms jerk often during sleep.
- You have vivid, dreamlike experiences while falling asleep or dozing
- You have episodes of sudden muscle weakness when you are angry or fearful, or when you laugh
- You feel as though you cannot move when you first wake up
How Are Sleep Disorders Diagnosed?
To make a diagnosis, your health care provider will use your medical history, your sleep history, and a physical exam. You may also have a sleep study (polysomnogram). The most common types of sleep studies monitor and record data about your body during a full night of sleep.
- Brain wave changes
- Eye movements
- Breathing rate
- Blood pressure
- Heart rate and electrical activity of the heart and other muscles
Other types of sleep studies may check how quickly you fall asleep during daytime naps or whether you are able to stay awake and alert during the day.
What Are The Treatments For Sleep Disorders?
Treatments for sleep disorders depend on which disorder you have.
They may include:
- Good sleep habits and other lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and exercise
- Cognitive behavioral therapy or relaxation techniques to reduce anxiety about getting enough sleep
- CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine for sleep apnea
- Bright light therapy (in the morning)
- Medicines, including sleeping pills. Usually, providers recommend that you use sleeping pills for a short period of time
- Natural products, such as melatonin. These products may help some people but are generally for short-term use. Make sure to check with your health care provider before you take any of them.
Why is sleep important?
Each sleep phase and stage is important to ensure that the mind and body are completely rested. Certain stages help you feel rested and energetic the next day, while other stages help you learn information and form memories.Sleep is important in the function of your body’s other systems, such as your metabolism and immune system. Sleep may also help your body clear toxins from your brain that build up while you were awake. Not getting enough or enough quality sleep contributes, in the short term, to problems with learning and processing information, and it can have a harmful effect on long-term health and well-being. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), many U.S. adults report that they don’t get the recommended number of hours of sleep each night.
Sleep affects how well you do your daily tasks, your mood, and your health in the following ways:
- Performance -:Cutting back on sleep by as little as 1 hour can make it difficult to focus the next day and can slow your response time. Insufficient sleep can also make you more likely to take risks and make poor decisions, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
- Mood -:Sleep affects your mood. Insufficient sleep can make you more easily annoyed or angry, and that can lead to trouble with relationships, particularly for children and teens. Also, people who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to become depressed, according to NHLBI.
- Health -: Sleep is important for good health.2 Research in adults has shown that lack of sleep or lack of quality sleep increases a person’s risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, and other medical conditions.2 Your environment can affect the quality of your sleep by causing disturbances that prevent you from sleeping through the night.2 Also, during sleep the body produces hormones that help the body grow and, throughout life, build muscle, fight illnesses, and repair damage to the body.2 Growth hormone, for example, is produced during sleep, and it is essential for growth and development.4 Other hormones produced during sleep affect how the body uses energy, which may explain why lack of sleep contributes to obesity and diabetes.