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Many Different Reasons for Sleep Disorders
By M. A. Fulmar

Sleep disorders that result in interference with the person's mental as well as emotional functioning can be hard to combat. Allergies too play an important role in affecting the sleep patterns adversely, and sleep disorders may be considered as a group of syndromes that cause disturbance in a person's quantity and quality of sleep.

Sleep is no doubt a basic behavior common to humans and animals, but in spite of a lot of research into the topic, researchers are still unable to completely comprehend all of its functions. Over the last 30 years, with more laboratory studies having been conducted, new information has emerged regarding cyclical patterns of different types of sleep as well as how they are related to breathing, heart rate, brain waves and more.

Besides normal sleep disorders, there are three more categories that are the result of or related to substance use or other mental or physical disorders. Depression as well as anxiety disorders cause sleep disturbances, and chronic insomnia occur due to psychiatric disorders. Using drugs, alcohol as well as caffeine is often the cause of disturbed sleep patterns, and alcohol abuse, in particular, leads to insomnia. Amphetamines or cocaine causes people to suffer from insomnia while using these drugs, and during drug withdrawal, there may be hypersomnia.

Children and Sleep Trouble

Children too suffer from sleep disorders, and according to some pediatric estimates, at least 20 to 30 per cent of children are affected. This includes sleepwalking and night terror as also narcolepsy and sleep apnea.

The causes and symptoms of sleep disorders have been studied in depth, and the most important symptoms noticed were insomnia as well as sleepiness during waking hours. The diagnosis of sleep disorders may often warrant studying the psychological history, medical history of the patient, gender and age of the patient.

To further help solve the problem of sleep disorders, doctors may need to make use of other means including asking patients to keep a sleep log to record their sleep behavior. This can help identify the severity as well as characteristics of their sleep disturbance and psychological testing to evaluate insomnia and self-report tests to assess daytime sleepiness. They can also use laboratory studies in sleep laboratories or by using portable instruments at the patient's homes and other tests to get to the bottom of sleep disorders.

Treating sleep disorders depends on its cause, and medications such as sedatives or hypnotic medications are also used, though only for insomnia related to temporary stress or overdose. In the case of narcolepsy, stimulants may be used including dextroamphetamine sulfate or methylphenidate. Psychotherapy is also used for those having sleep disorders in conjunction with other medical disorders. Even lifestyle changes can be recommended that includes quitting smoking, avoiding alcohol or drug abuse as well as needing to lose weight so that the upper airway becomes more stable.

Author Details:
M. A. Fulmar writes about sleep disorders and insomnia plus other health matters for various web sites including, The A to Z of and Information Junkie.

Source: Free Article Directory

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See also: Insomnia