Catching Those ZZZs? A Guide to What May Be Keeping You Up at Night

Do you have trouble sleeping at night? You are not alone. According to the National Center for Sleep Disorder's research at the National Institutes of Health, it’s a national problem. Between stress, problems with your sleeping environment and any number of disorders, 30 to 40 percent of the US adult population report experiencing symptoms of insomnia each year.

So what may be the reasons why you lose sleep? An article from http://www.pennlive.com has enumerated some of these reasons:

• Insomnia. This condition is defined as the inability to fall asleep, stay asleep or both. Insomnia may be transient (lasting less than one week), short-term (lasting one to three weeks) or chronic (lasting one month or longer).

• Sleep apnoea. This condition is a decrease or total cessation of airflow during sleep. Types include obstructive sleep apnoea (caused by a blockage in the airways), central sleep apnoea (the brain fails to signal the respiratory muscles to breathe) and mixed (a combination of obstructive and central sleep apnoea).

• Narcolepsy manifests itself as falling asleep suddenly during daily activities and excessive daytime sleepiness. Symptoms include cataplexy (a sudden loss of muscle control), sleep paralysis (brief inability to talk or move while falling asleep or when waking up), hypnagogic hallucinations (scary dreams when falling asleep) and automatic behaviour (performing routine tasks without awareness, or even memory, of performing them).

• Restless Legs Syndrome. This is a neurological disorder marked by a tingling sensation in the legs or arms that results in an irresistible urge to move.

• Periodic Limb Movement Disorder. This is characterised by repetitive movements such as twitching or jerking every 20 to 40 seconds.

Read more here:

http://www.pennlive.com/bodyandmind/index.ssf/2013/09/catching_those_zzzs_a_guide_to.html

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