Sleep Disorders: Know If You Already Suffer From One

Sleep is essential for normal individual function. Having a sleep disorder considerably impairs an individual's capacity to do normal work and may even be life-threatening. Sleep disorders come in a variety of forms and these are more common ones:

Sleep apnea is a condition in which the breathing of a sleeping person is interrupted. The lack of oxygen prompts a person to gasp for breath, disturbing the normal sleep process. A common result is restlessness, fatigue, and irritability due to lack of restful sleep. This may be caused by blockage of the breathing apparatus, or the stimulus of breathing is interrupted in the brain. Sleep apnea is also linked with advanced age and obesity. To avoid this, make sure you control your weight. Also, avoid sleeping right after eating a meal.

Insomnia, a common sleep disorder among teens and adults, is the inability to sleep or remain sleeping. This is caused by many factors; the more common of which includes stress, fear, anxiety, and other conditions such as depression. Normally, insomniacs are prescribed sleeping pills or are taught relaxation techniques in order to sleep.

Parasomnias are disturbances in sleep, and these include recurrent nightmares, sleepwalking, violent sleep behaviors, and REM behavior disorder, where sufferers move their bodies in response to dream events. Suffering from this kind of sleep disorder may be dangerous and harmful to the individual, so it is best to cure any kind of these disorders in the soonest possible time.

Narcolepsy is the incursion of rapid eye movements (present in deep sleep) during waking moments. This results in sudden loss of muscle tone, and may appear to observers as apparently dropping dead. Narcoleptic episodes last for a short time, for about 10 to 20 minutes, and the individual comes out without any recollection of what happened. Narcolepsy is a dangerous illness, and accidents may occur if a sufferer takes charge of machinery or drives.

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and Periodic Leg Movement (PLM) are sleep illnesses characterized by a tingling sensation in the leg, which prompts the individual to move. They result in disturbed sleep and corresponding reduced restfulness. These disorders are highly treatable and interventions result in the elimination of symptoms in more than 90% of sufferers.