Insomia: A Sleep disorder

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A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental, social and emotional functioning. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for some sleep disorders.

Disruptions in sleep can be caused by a variety of issues, including teeth grinding (bruxism) and night terrors. When a person suffers from difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep with no obvious cause, it is referred to as insomnia.

Sleep disorders are broadly classified into dyssomnias, parasomnias, circadian rhythm sleep disorders involving the timing of sleep, and other disorders including ones caused by medical or psychological conditions.

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The most common sleep disorder is insomnia. Others are sleep apnea, narcolepsy and hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness at inappropriate times), sleeping sickness (disruption of sleep cycle due to infection), sleepwalking, and night terrors. Management of sleep disturbances that are secondary to mental, medical, or substance abuse disorders should focus on the underlying conditions.

Primary sleep disorders are common in both children and adults. However, there is a significant lack of awareness in children with sleep disorders, due to most cases being unidentified. Several common factors involved in the onset of a sleep disorder include increased medication use, age-related changes in circadian rhythms, environmental and lifestyle changes and pre diagnosed physiological problems and stress. The risk of developing sleep disorders in the elderly is especially increased for sleep disordered breathing, periodic limb movements, restless legs syndrome, REM sleep behavior disorders, insomnia and circadian rhythm disturbances.

There are a number of sleep disorders, the following list includes some of them:

Bruxism, involuntarily grinding or clenching of the teeth while

sleeping. Catathrenia, nocturnal groaning during prolonged exhalation.

Delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD), inability to awaken and fall asleep at socially acceptable times but no problem with sleep maintenance, a disorder of circadian rhythms. Other such disorders are advanced sleep phase disorder (ASPD), non-24-hour sleep–wake disorder (non-24) in the sighted or in the blind, and irregular sleep wake rhythm, all much less common than DSPD, as well as the situational shift work sleep disorder.

Fatal familial insomnia, an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes a complete cessation of sleep, leading quickly to death by sleep deprivation.

Hypopnea syndrome, abnormally shallow breathing or slow respiratory rate while sleeping.

Idiopathic hypersomnia, a primary, neurologic cause of long-sleeping, sharing many similarities with narcolepsy. Insomnia disorder (primary insomnia), chronic difficulty in falling asleep and/or maintaining sleep when no other cause is found for these symptoms. Insomnia can also be comorbid with or secondary to other disorders.

Kleine–Levin syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by persistent episodic hypersomnia and cognitive or mood changes.

Narcolepsy, including excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), often culminating in falling asleep spontaneously but unwillingly at inappropriate times. About 70% of those who have narcolepsy also have cataplexy, a sudden weakness in the motor muscles that can result in collapse to the floor while retaining full conscious awareness.

Night terror, Pavor nocturnus, sleep terror disorder, an abrupt awakening from sleep with behavior consistent with terror.

Nocturia, a frequent need to get up and urinate at night. It differs from enuresis, or bed-wetting, in which the person does not arouse from sleep, but the bladder nevertheless empties.

Parasomnias, disruptive sleep-related events involving inappropriate actions during sleep, for example sleep walking, night-terrors and catathrenia. Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), sudden involuntary movement of arms and/or legs during sleep, for example kicking the legs. Also known as nocturnal myoclonus. See also Hypnic jerk, which is not a disorder.

Regards,
Elsa

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