Sleep Walking

Sleep walking is also named as Somnambulism. It is not simply the walking during sleep, but it includes a complex array of behaviors which gets highlighted during slow wave sleep. It is the disorder which happens during the stage of sleep where dreaming takes place. The chemical that is released by the body at this condition paralyses the body as a whole. But such chemical trigger is absent in those people who sleep walk as their body does not get paralyzed.

Different symptoms associated are stress, anxiety, amnesia, ambulation during sleep which is includes walking and other movements, fatigue and many more. Sleep walking is commonly seen in children around the 6 to 12 age group. But it does not have any age barrier as it could persist in anyone regardless of the age.

The most significant treatment that could be provided is complete rest. Also make sure to keep away any kind of dangerous things in the bedroom and always place the room on the ground floor.

This is a sleeping disorder where the sufferer engages in walking while he is in sleep or sleep like state. Most people have a habit of moving their leg while sleeping however sleep walking is due to both the legs moving in synchronization. This disorder can happen to a person of any age. It mostly occurs when a person wakes up from slow wave sleep which is often known as deep sleep. It is been recorded that 25% of the children and young adults have slow wave sleep. How ever this tends to decrease with the growing age. Results of a survey carried out show that 18% of the people all around the world suffer from sleep walking. Out of this at least 15 % are children and young adults. One of the survey showed that 16.7% of children aging between 11 to 12 years of age have this disorder. One most statistics show that males are more likely to sleep walk than females.

Snoring

Snoring is a common sleeping disorder which is seen around. It is estimated that around forty-five percent of the adults usually snore in one way or the other under any circumstance. It is also found that around twenty five percent of the population snore habitually. Snoring is the problem which is more confined to the males and in over weight persons and it is known to gradually increase with age.

Under various studies, it is found out that the disorder is much worse when the person is to lie on his back. There are many of them who do not take much care in curing snoring. But it is serious when considered socially as well as medically. Socially, it irritates the person beside and also creates sleepless nights for him. When considered medically, the person is deprived of proper rest and also sleeping patterns. With severe snoring, the health is adversely affected.

Treatments are also made available for snoring but all depends on the diagnosis made. This is because there are several causes for snoring such as adenoids, deformity, nasal allergy, tonsils or even infection.

Snoring is referred as sound and vibration of reparatory structures due to the obstructions while breathing at the time of sleep. The sound, depending from person to person, may be soft or it may loud and unpleasant which may disturb the other people. The structures which vibrate are usually soft plate and uvula. There is an irregular flow of air due to blockage caused by various factors such as fat gathering around the throat, miss position of jaw caused due to tension in muscles, Weak ness of throat which tent to close while sleeping, obstruction caused at nasal passageway and also some allergies are factors responsible. Snoring act is generally found in aged people. Statistics say that as many as 30% of people around the world suffer from snoring problem and out of that 67% are men. It is also been surveyed that 60% of men and 40% of women between age 50-60 have snoring problem.

Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Disorder

Rapid eye movement sleep disorder is also termed as REM. It occurs as a result of incomplete or absent paralysis that occurs during sleep. It is this paralysis that lets the person to act out with the dream. These include yelling, jumping from bed, grabbing, sitting, talking, arm flailing and punching.

An acute cause of Rapid Eye Movement sleep disorder is due to the withdrawal of alcohol, drug use etc. It is confined to men usually and is seen in people from the middle aged to higher. The exact cause of REM is not yet found as it might be due to various diseases like Parkinson’s etc.

The symptoms include violent, self injury, injury to others dream enacting behaviors etc. These violent emotions may awaken the person from dream and sometimes he himself could recall the dream and recognize the event. The REM is treated at the proper time when the violent behaviors seem to be unusual.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Osa)

Sleep disorders are seen commonly these days. One among the most important type of sleep disorders could be termed to as OSA or Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The rate of prevalence is estimated to be 3% – 8%. It can be defined as the obstruction in the upper airway which is considered to be periodic during sleep. Each period could be upto 90 seconds. The occurrence could range from hundred times to even more. Increased day time sleepiness could also be due to OSA. It is usually seen in men than in women.

The major cause of OSA is determined to be the muscle tone loss present in the pharyngeal muscles. This loss permits the collapsing of the airway. The different symptoms of OSA could be listed to as daytime sleepiness which is of primary importance, snoring loudly, obesity, morning headaches, sexual problems and many more.

Diagnosis is very important with physical examination, polysomnography etc. With proper follow up there has been a good result in the row.

Night Terror

One of sleeping disorders prevalent in children is night terror. It is popular among children and it is also estimated that around 15% of children suffer from night terrors occasionally. Among children, the most common age group is between 2 and 6 years even though the occurrence can be at any age group.

Even though the problem is no serious, there are many parents who are distressed due to the behaviour of their child. Night terrors could be described to be the situation in children when they seem to be with wide open eyes with panic and fear with something called the blood curdling scream.

The major symptom seen is fast breath, sweating and rapid heart rate. There are night terrors which have been estimated to be lasting for about thirty minutes and even more. Diagnosis of the disorder depends on the waking pattern of the child during the night terror. There is no particular treatment necessary for night terrors.

The best treatment would be to have a perfect bedtime routine and rest. With proper time table and punctuality this sleeping disorder could be overcome.

It is a parasomnia disorder of beauty sleep which is also known as pavor nocturnus which has characteristics of temporary inability to get complete consciousness back and extreme terror movement at nights. This disorder is also a part of slow wave sleep or deep sleeps which also causes screaming, moaning, and gasping due to terror movements. Eventually after the above mentioned activities the sufferer sleeps with out waking. It is been said that night terror may be an accident which is going to be held with the person or it may be an incident through which the sufferer has gone through. They have a typical occurrence at the time of non-REM sleep. One of the quality of night terror is that it would have a strong sense of danger. The night terror is not a dream like night mares but it is an emotion of fear. This emotion has hardly lasts for 2-3 minutes.

Periodic Limb Movements (Plm)

PLM is another sleeping disorder which is associated with most of them usually. It is defined to be jerking rhythmically of legs or feet. The cause of movement is due to the creeping, crawling sensation which is best understood to be Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). The rate of occurrence is pretty less as it is only 2% – 5%.

Various symptoms are seen in people experiencing RLS or PLM. These are insomnia or which is known to be non-refreshing sleep, jumpy or creepy legs, increased activity, unpleasant sensation during sleep, restless sleep, excessive daytime sleep and many more.

Such sleeping disorders are considered to becoming common these days and many of them do not care to get treatment at the right time. But proper care at the right time has found to cure almost 90% of patients. The most important aspect is to seek help at the right time so that nothing goes out of hand.

This is a disorder in which the person suffering from it moves limbs involuntarily during sleep and has problems related to the movement. This sleep disorder is also known as nocturnal mycoclonus. If a person simply moves the limbs no problems or consequences related to it can be simply known as periodic limb movement of sleep. Most people having this disorder do not need any treatment and they even do not prefer it. Periodic limb movement disorder can be a small movement of ankles and toes or it can be wild flailing of all four limbs. This common movement in legs and arms lasts for 3 to 5 seconds and can happen in every 10 t 90 seconds at the time of sleep. The effect of this is that the sufferer may have day time sleepiness and insomnia. This disorder unlike other disorders tends to increase with growing age.

Parasomnia

Parasomnia is known by yet another name “disorders of arousal”. It is a sequence of sleep related events which are disruptive. It includes a list of events which are categorized in the sleep disorders. Some of them are violent behaviour during sleep, nightmares, sleep walking, REM behaviour disorder, partial seizures and even sleep terrors.

These are the disorders which are experienced in many of them and are commonly found these days. People do not consider it to be serious and do not seek for any kind of medication till the situation worsens. It is always the best to get proper medication at the right time as it can do real wonders. But as the time increases, the mode of treatment and the time of cure will also increase.

Persistence of the disease without treatment could lead to serious cases such as excessive eating, violence, injury, disturbing others in the house or bed etc. Diagnosis of parasomnia is highly recommended.

Delayed Sleep-Phase Syndrome

It is chronic disorder of sleep timing and thus it is also known as delayed sleep phase disease. People having this disorder tend to sleep at late times and cannot wake up early. Most people suffering from the disorder have reported that they sleep at the same early morning time daily and wake up late. Hence they cannot manage there daily schedule like going to school and office. Though if they are not been disturbed during their sleeping time, they do not have problem through out the day time, they remain fresh in the day time. This disorder is usually found in children or in adolescence. This disorder seems to vanish with aging. This syndrome is treatable but it can not be cured in general cases it is left untreated. This disorder is also responsible for 8 to 11 percent of chronic insomnia. DSPS is misdiagnosed as a primary insomnia and often as psychiatric condition.

Bruxism

Bruxism is a sleeping disorder which is found to affect the adult population as a whole. The characteristic feature of this disorder is the grinding or clenching of teeth during sleep. It has been cleared out that the activity is not learned and it comes out as a reflex of the usual chewing activity. It happens as the reflex part is active during sleep while the control of brain is inactive thus dominated. Different experts have different reasons for the abnormal chewing action.

The consequences are rather serious as compared to any other disorder. It results in wear of the biting surface, cracks and chips in the teeth etc. Bruxism is observed during naps or even during sound sleep. The cure for bruxism has not been coined out yet.

Repositioning splint is used usually to stop the damage caused due to the activity. Apart from protecting the teeth, it also reduces the tendency to do so.Stress is another thing that causes sleeping disorder.

Bruxism is a sleeping disorder which is generally found in most adults. Bruxism is a Greek word which means gnashing or grinding of teeth. It is a Para- functional activity.

It is not a learned activity it is caused by reflex chewing activity. It is a very complex neuromuscular activity that is controlled by brain with the higher control on reflex nerve. During the time of sleep the brain remains inactive where as the reflex part is active thus it results to an unusual chewing which is known as Bruxism. Some experts also believe that it is cause of lack of symmetry in the teeth some also believe that it is the cause of anxiety and also shows digestive problem. It causes chips, abfracton in the teeth and thus cracks the teeth. In general cases the bruxism occurs between the canines and incisors which rub against each other which also cause noise at times.

Sleeping Disorder

Sleeping disorder is type of disease that is caused to various people at the time of their sleep. At an average 40% of people have a sleeping disorder but most people are unaware of it. This is generally caused due to some reason like tired working day, intake of not easily digestible food, because of digestive problem, change in sleep time, early waking or not sleeping for few days. Most sleeping disorders are incurable though they can be treated well. The sleeping disorder is not only disturbs the sleep of people having it but also distracts the sleep of people who sleep with affected people as they tend to make some kind of noise or they tend to through their legs away at people sleeping besides them. There are various types of sleeping disorders which cause various problems not necessarily at the time of sleep but also show its effect during the non-sleeping times.