Common Sleep Disorders

Each and every night, millions of people around the world suffer with the frustration of not being able to get a good night sleep. Recent survey results reveal that over 40 million Americans suffer from one form or another of chronic sleep disorder. Whether it is Sleep Apnea, Narcolepsy or Insomnia that you suffer from, you are not alone.

What causes common sleeping disorders?

Sleep deprivation disorders come in many forms, and can have a number of causes. In many cases, a holistic treatment approach can be taken. Below are four of the most common issues that prevent a good night sleep - before turning to medicinal solutions, consider the following.

• Diet - What we eat affects every part of our lives. If your diet consists of a large quantity of caffinated or sugary drinks, or even heavily processed foods, this may be affecting your sleep patterns. Try cutting out foods that may have adverse affects - eat fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, oats, and unprocessed, lean meats for a week or so, and see if your sleep disorder doesn't subside.
• Exercise - If you're generally not an active person, this WILL be affecting your abilities to have a restfull sleep at night. Ensure you're getting plenty of exercise during the day, go for a walk with a friend, bike to work, take the stairs instead of the lift. Meditation can also be an excellent cure for common sleep disorders - just 20 minutes every now and then can make a world of difference!
• Stress - If you're stressed at work, or something, anything in life is getting you down or strung out, your likely to have trouble sleeping. Dealing with the issue at hand is always best, whether it be resolving the problem (if possible) or talking to a friend or counsellor. Meditation can also be an excellent stress relief, and helps to bring perspective back to the problems at hand and how to handle them.
• Sleeping Patterns - It's important to keep regular and healthy sleeping patterns. If you are constantly going to bed late or at irregular times, aren't allowing yourself enough sleeping hours (at least 6 hours a night), or are sleeping too much (very common), your ability to get a good, restful sleep will definately be affected. Make sure you're sleeping at a regular time, for 6-8 hours. Plan your evening to include some wind-down time before heading to bed, and set an alarm to wake up bright and early to a healthy breakfast.

Sleep apnea is a type of sleep disorder, in which the patient experiences pauses in breathing while he is sleeping. Every such episode which happens is called apnea. These episodes repeatedly occur in a night, during the sleep. Every apnea lasts so long so that at least one or two breaths are missed. These kinds of episodes repeat throughout the sleep. If to define sleep apnea, it is usually an interval of minimum of 10 seconds between breaths. There can be two outcome of sleep apnea, one though; is a neurological arousal which is composed of at least or more than 3 seconds of shift in the EEG frequency, which is measured at C3,C4,O1,O2). Or it can also be the blood oxygen de saturation of up to three to four percent, or greater. The outcome can also be a combination of both. Sleep apnea can be diagnosed with a device called Polysomnogram which performs an overnight sleep test, which is also called as ‘sleep study’. If there happens to be 5 or more occurrences of apnea per hour, then it is considered to be significant level of sleep apnea which is usually critical.

There happens to be three kinds of sleep apnea. They are central, obstructive and the complex type. Of which, the central type is the rare form constituting only 0.4% and complex type comes up to 15% and the rest obstructive type.

In the first kind of apnea, that is, central apnea, the brain loses the control over the respiratory control centers. Because of high levels of carbon dioxide combined with the neurological feedback system which supports the blood levels of CO2, do not respond in time to even have an even breathing rate. Thus the whole system keeps cycling with the same result. The victim does not show any kind of chest movement nor struggling. Right after the apnea period, breathing might get faster to compensate the effect of apnea and remove waste gases.

CPAP which stands for continuous positive airway pressure is one of the most common treatments given for sleep apnea. This treatment functions by splinting the airway of the patient open while he is asleep with the help of flowing pressurized air inside the throat. CPAP can be used for aiding only inhaling, whereas BiPAP machines can also do the job of exhaling too. Dentists prescribe OAT (Oral Appliance Therapy), which is a custom mouthpiece which helps in shifting the lower jaw to the front which clears the airway. This proves very useful for patients having mild and moderate Obstructive sleep apnea.

For more information on Sleep Apnea and other common Sleep disorders and treatments visit: Relax And Meditate - Sleep Disorders