Sleep disorders affect your sleep. You might have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting enough rest in general. This makes it tough to function normally during the day. These disorders affect the ability to sleep well regularly and cause significant impairments in social and occupational functions.
Disorders of sleep encompass all types of dysfunctions involving sleep, including difficulty falling asleep at night, poor sleep quality, early waking, circadian rhythm disorders, parasomnias, sleep-related movement disorders, and sleep-related breathing disorders.
Sleep disorders hurt your brain and body. They make it harder to focus, learn, and remember things. You’ll also feel tired all day, which can raise your risk of health problems like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Stages of sleep
There are two main types of sleep: REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. NREM sleep has several stages, which we’ll explore in more detail next.
1. REM sleep (rapid-eye movement): REM was initially identified in 1953 by sleep researchers who discovered a distinct pattern of brain waves (signals collected on an electroencephalogram (EEG), a type of test that monitors electrical impulses within the brain). Other characteristics of REM sleep include full inactivity of all voluntary muscles in the body and rapid eye movements.
About 20% to 25% of sleep time is REM sleep in adults and 40% in infants.
2. NREM (non-rapid eye movement): NREM sleep occurs in three stages, according to the pattern of brain electrical activity:
A. Dozing off (Stage N1): This is the lightest sleep stage where you’re just transitioning from being awake. You might drift in and out of sleep and easily wake up with a slight noise.
B. Light sleep (Stage N2): This is where you spend most of your sleep time. Your brain waves slow down, and your body temperature drops. You’re less aware of your surroundings, but you can still be awakened easily.
C. Deep sleep (Stage N3): This is the restorative stage where your body repairs itself and strengthens your immune system. Your brain waves are slowest here, and it’s harder to wake you up.
Disruptions in the entire sleep cycle or the individual phases are known to cause various types of sleep disorders.
Insomnia
Insomnia is characterized by an ongoing difficulty in falling or remaining asleep despite wanting to sleep and having enough time to sleep. Many adults experience insomnia sometimes, which means difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or both. This can leave you feeling drowsy and struggling to function during the day. If this happens at least three nights a week for three months or more, it’s called chronic insomnia.
Age, anxiety and depression are known to cause insomnia. Therapy, sleep aids, and other approaches can help reduce or even eliminate insomnia symptoms.
Mechanistically, human endogenous (secreted by our body) melatonin levels start to increase approximately 2 hours before natural sleep onset and peak approximately 5 hours later.
Exogenous (consumed externally) melatonin can effectively treat insomnia by mimicking the natural endogenous melatonin, binding to the same receptors and activating the same downstream sleep pathways.
Sleep apnea is a common sleep-related breathing disorder (SBD) that disrupts breathing at night. People with this condition often snore heavily and may wake up gasping for air. There are two types of sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway is blocked due to the relaxation of tissues in the mouth and throat. In the case of central sleep apnea, the brain temporarily stops sending signals to the muscles that control breathing.
• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)affects at least 30 million Americans, but many cases go undiagnosed.
• People with sleep apnea often experience daytime sleepiness, fatigue, morning headaches, and dry mouth.
• Treatment options for sleep apnea include CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure device) therapy, oral appliances, and, sometimes, surgery.
Melatonin might help protect hearts from sleep disorders. This research suggests melatonin could help prevent heart problems caused by sleep issues like sleep apnea (OSA).
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a type of sleep disorder that makes people feel excessively tired during the day despite getting an adequate amount of sleep. It disrupts your brain’s sleep-wake control, causing overwhelming drowsiness and sudden sleep attacks that can happen anywhere, anytime, even for just a few minutes.
Narcolepsy affects roughly 1 in 2,000 people in the United States alone.
Narcolepsy can also cause an accident or injury due to altered alertness; treatment with medication and sleep hygiene can help.
Based on the latest research, melatonin may provide a novel option for improving the central disorder of hypersomnolence (extreme sleepiness) by altering the sleep patterns in narcolepsy.
Excessive Sleepiness
Feeling sleepy after a night of sleep loss is normal. However excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a medical term that describes extreme grogginess occurring almost every day for at least three months. EDS can lead to sleep apnea, narcolepsy, hypothyroidism, depression, and anxiety. EDS is not a sleep disorder itself but rather a symptom of many sleep disorders and numerous other health conditions.
Good sleep hygiene practices include:
- Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol use before bedtime. Some studies have shown that caffeine consumed early in the day can affect the ability to fall asleep at night.
- Adhere to a regular bedtime and waking schedule.
- Maintain a comfortable sleep environment, including a comfortable temperature.
- Avoid watching television or using electronic devices. Electronic devices emit blue light which signals your body to stop producing melatonin that controls your sleep.
- Learn to calm your mind near bedtime; practicing meditation will help you to drift off at night.
Sleep disorders are prevalent, affecting millions of people worldwide. Raising awareness and understanding your sleep disorders can help improve your quality of life by enabling you to get the diagnosis and treatment you need for better sleep and overall health.