Sleeping disorders result in poorer sleep quality. Every person needs sufficient good night sleep for doing the proper brain functioning. The effects of inadequate sleep can be seen on our physical fitness, mental fitness and even on emotional fitness. These effects can be very dangerous sometimes. On all of the mainly our daily routine activities get affected to a great extent.

Some of the sleeping disorders include sleep apnea, insomnia, snoring, restless legs syndrome, snoring, narcolepsy, sleepwalking, sleep talking, bedwetting, nightmares, night terrors, teeth grinding, etc. Of these disorders, the most common disorder is Insomnia. Insomnia keeps us awake almost whole night. Depression, anxiety, stress, and some prescriptions lead to insomnia.

Some of the sleeping disorders are seen occasionally, and thus these types of disorders are of not much dangerous. Making few simple steps can easily help us in coping up with. But, there are few sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea, certain parasomnias, insomnia, snoring, narcolepsy, etc., can be dangerous if not taken proper treatment is taken.

Symptoms of Sleeping Disorders

The most common symptoms include

• Inadequate sleep
• Snoring
• Experiencing frequent choking effects during sleep
• Frequent waking up during night
• Feeling restless and unable to sleep during night
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Fatigue and lack of energy to do daily activities properly
• Memory problems
• Difficulty in controlling emotions

Causes

Sleeping disorders can be caused by psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, stress, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, sometimes by certain medical conditions such as asthma or some ulcers etc., and sometimes by prescription drugs like blood pressure medications, over the counter medications, etc.

Another important cause is night shift jobs. People doing night shift jobs cannot sleep at night and work in drowsiness and face problem in sleeping during daytime. People who are

Treatments

There are many sleeping disorders treatment methods available. Each disorder has its own treatment techniques. Treatment methods include behavioral therapies such as cognitive behavior therapy, sleeping hygiene etc, medications, surgical treatments, natural therapies such as herbal treatments, acupuncture, meditation, etc and some few lifestyle changes.

Self help techniques for overcoming sleeping disorders:

• Maintaining sleep patterns
• Regular exercise
• Maintaining correct appetite
• Avoiding alcohol intake and cigarette smoking
• Go to bed without any worries, stress, and job deadlines in mind
• Avoid napping
• Avoid work during sleep timings

Fibromyalgia Cure with Medications

FDA has approved three medications that can be used for treating fibromyalgia. Pregabalin (Lyrica) is the first medicine, which has been approved by FDA. It was approved in 2007. It has also approved duloxetine in 2008 and milnacipran in 2009. These three medications have been very effective in reducing the pain.

Fibromyalgia cure can also be done by reducing stress levels. Tricyclic antidepressants help in reducing the depression levels, anxiety, fatigue, pain and also help in improving the sleep.

Alternative Methods That Can Used As Cure for Fibromyalgia

Many people who suffer from fibromyalgia go for medications, but it is always better to go for behavior medication techniques and self help techniques.

• Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Behavior therapy techniques have been shown very effective in reducing fibromyalgia when used along with exercise.
• Exercise: Involving in regular exercise have been most effective in reducing pain and also in improving sleep. Cardiovascular exercises, aerobic exercises and resistance training are some of the exercises, which can be used as fibromyalgia cure. People who cannot involve in vigorous exercise due to immense pain caused by fibromyalgia should start their exercise routine with walking, water aerobics, stationary bicycling, and other mild exercises and gradually increase the exercise levels.
• Stress Reduction: The symptoms can also be effectively reduced by reducing the stress levels. The involvement of stress relief techniques in cure for fibromyalgia is very much needed. This helps in reducing the fatigue levels, and improving sleep.
• Natural Therapies: Fibromyalgia cure can also be done effectively with the help of natural therapies. A fibromyalgia patient can go for message therapy, acupuncture, herbal treatment, tai chi, Pilates, chiropractic treatment, and etc.
• Fibromyalgia Diet: Dietary changes have also shown results in some patients. There is no such specific diet, or food supplements that can be used for all patients. Alcohol and caffeine drinks should be avoided to improve sleep quality.
• Self Help: Some simple self help strategies and lifestyle changes will help in reducing the symptoms. This fibromyalgia cure involves no money. Lifestyle changes like proper diet, regular sleep pattern, regular exercise, deep breathing and other relaxation techniques will help in reducing fatigue, pain and also in improving sleep.

People with syndrome experience obstructive sleep apnea. As a result, experience excessive daytime sleepiness. This syndrome can even sometimes result in heart failure. The exact causes of this syndrome are still unknown. But, it is believed that the causes of this syndrome are due to obesity and brain’s improper control over breathing.

Pickwickian Syndrome Symptoms and Signs

The symptoms of this syndrome are loss of sleep, sleep disruption, excessive daytime sleepiness, depression, headaches, and hypertension. People suffering with this syndrome show signs such as swollen legs, feeling tired even for doing works that indulge smaller amount of effort, shortness in breath, and lips, toes, finger will be bluish color.

Diagnosis

Pickwickian syndrome diagnosis is not possible just from history or examination itself. There are certain criterions to be followed for diagnosing, such as the person’s BMI is more than 30, Arterial CO2 levels are greater than 45mmHg, and experiencing obstructive sleep apnea. Different diagnosing tests are done for diagnosing each criterion. Arterial blood gases test for diagnosing the CO2 levels, and polysomnogram for diagnosing OSA.

Treatment

Reducing weight using diet, exercising, and sometimes with medications and weight loss surgery is considered the main technique for treating pickwickian syndrome. This in turn will help in reducing OSA episodes; increase in oxygen levels in blood, and reduces daytime sleepiness episodes.

Apart from this weight loss technique CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) device can be used to reduce the OSA episodes during sleep, thereby allowing breathing properly during sleep. There are several types of CPAP devices available in market.

Medroxyprogesterone, and Acetazolamide can be using for treating. These medications help in improving the ventilatory responses. But, there are no sufficient studies have been conducted on these medications with respect to the Pickwickian syndrome treatment. This syndrome is definitely reversed by following the treatment techniques.

In a study published in the September issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, scientists compared 80 women with obstructive sleep apnea between the ages of 28 and 64 with 240 women who sleep normally without interruptions. The results revealed that apnea patients had significantly higher rates of sexual dysfunction.

An apnea is a period of time during which breathing stops or is markedly reduced during sleep, according to Medterms.com. Fatigue and high blood pressure are reported as common causes.

An earlier study in Turkey determined sleep apnea “negatively impacts sexual function in women independent of age and associated co-morbid diseases.”

In a 2009 German study, researchers studied 401 men who were seeking treatment for suspected sleep apnea. Of those confirmed to have the condition, about 70 per cent also had erectile dysfunction, as opposed to 34 per cent in those who had no sleep disorders.

Sleep apnea certainly has a direct link to intimacy and sexual relations, says Andrew L. Ries, MD, professor of medicine and family and preventive medicine at the University of California in San Diego.

“But it appears that the major difference is whether the patients were complying with treatment or not complying,” he said. “One of the big problems in the treatment of sleep apnea is getting people to accept it and stay with it.”

Medical sources say snoring is a common sign of sleep apnea. Doctors advice that individuals suffering from sleep obstructions should seek treatment, as patients who are treated for their sleep apnea may see their intimate relationships improve.

“It could be that they are less tired once the sleep apnea is being treated,” says Terri Weaver, RN, PhD, associate professor and chairwoman of the biobehavioral and health sciences division at the University of Pennsylvania.

Source: International Business Times

Dear Reader: If you are acting out your dreams, I’d say it’s very likely that you have a condition called REM Behavior Disorder. The type of sleep disturbances you describe certainly fit the bill.

As you’ve experienced, people can get themselves into trouble while dreaming. Although it sounds a bit like sleepwalking, this disorder involves much more than just walking in your sleep. People have been known to jump through glass windows or climb tall furniture, all while asleep.

How does this happen? When we sleep, our bodies are normally paralyzed (or nearly so). This is a good thing, because it keeps us safe and in our beds as we sleep. But in people like you with REM Behavior Disorder, the “sleep paralysis” mechanism fails.

The name REM Behavior Disorder comes from the stage of sleep when the eyes move rapidly and dreaming occurs. The stage is called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. In a sleep laboratory, these rapid eye movements can be detected with electronic devices. But you can sometimes see it happening when you look at the closed eyelids of a person sleeping. People tend to have dreams during REM sleep. The brain is extremely active, but the body is paralyzed, except for some occasional muscle twitches.

Scientists don’t know why the bodies of people with REM Behavior Disorder aren’t paralyzed, as they should be during REM sleep. This disorder can occur when people who have been drinking a lot of alcohol stop drinking, or when people stop certain medicines that they’ve been on for a long time. It also may be present for the first time in people who have developed Alzheimer’s disease. But it can also occur for no apparent reason in otherwise healthy people.

There are many medications that can help, but it may take you and your doctor some trial and error to find the one that’s right for you.

While you and your doctor try to find a medicine for this condition, there are some things you can do to protect yourself from being hurt. Make your bedroom as safe as possible. It may be a good idea to put your mattress directly on the floor, pad the corners of furniture, and remove anything fragile or dangerous from the room. If you share your bed with a spouse or partner, perhaps you should sleep in separate rooms until you get the disorder under control.

REM Behavior Disorder is really unusual, and I have never seen a patient with it. If I did have a patient with this condition, I would refer him or her to a sleep specialist.

Source: Anthony L. Komaroff, Monterey County The Herald

“We have about 85 different sleep disorders that we can now recognize and treat,” said Moscovitch, an internationally-recognized expert on sleep and fatigue disorders.

“Sleep deprivation as a result of not sleeping as much as we need, or because of an underlying sleep disorder, is becoming quite an epidemic. And we are paying a very heavy price for it-both individually and as a society.”

A sleep disorder should not be confused with an occasional sleep disturbance, Moscovitch emphasized.

Everyone has an occasional sleep disturbance, he said. It may be in relation to a stressful period or worrying about something.

A sleep disorder, on the other hand, is already chronic, Moscovitch explained.

“It has lasted at least for weeks if not months and in most cases for years. And it has a significant impact -in a lot of cases a measurable impact on the individual’s physiological, psychological, educational or occupational functioning.”

Insomnia, for example, is a sleep disorder. It includes: problems falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up too early, or waking up not feeling refreshed.

“Frequently, people that have that will report that when they wake up in the morning, they feel like they have been run over by a truck,” Moscovitch said. “They frequently have a multitude of aches and pains upon waking up-from back aches to jaw aches to headaches-that either interfere with their ability to fall asleep, or their ability to stay asleep, or they wake up with it in the middle of the night for a variety of reasons.”

Chronic insomnia is not a diagnosis, Moscovitch emphasized. He compared it to chest pain.

The key is to find the underlying condition-whether it’s medical, neurological, hormonal, environmental, psychiatric, psychological -and then tailor the treatment to that, he said.

The consequences of sleep disturbance or sleep deprivation, can include: fatigue; increased likelihood of sleepiness; increased likelihood of accidents at work and at home; increased irritability; higher risk of developing a major psychiatric condition-in particular depression and anxiety disorders; problems with memory, concentration, difficulties with decision-making, and difficulty learning new things which may eventually affect the immune system.

Treatment options for those with sleep issues are as varied as the causes of the problem, Moscovitch pointed out. Mechanical devices, for example, can be used to treat snoring and breathing problems. Light treatment offers a way of shifting back and forth the biological clock. Medications, whether over-the-counter or prescription, can be used. Cognitive therapy is an option. Relaxation techniques may help. Sometimes it’s a matter of addressing what’s happening with your bed partner, or how much light is coming into your bedroom at 5 a.m., or whether your bedroom faces a busy roadway.

Pain is a major contributor to sleep problems, Moscovitch said.

“Almost every individual that has a problem with pain, whether acute or chronic, will have a significant problem with sleep,” he said. “And intuitively, we know that.”

Short-term solutions can include the use of a sleep aid, or a prescription drug if the problem is more significant he said.

A new over-the-counter medication, Advil Nighttime, was recently released in Canada, to treat the combination of pain and sleep difficulty.

“It’s intended for short-term use. But what is hoped by that short-term use is that it will help stop it from developing into a vicious cycle,” Moscovitch explained.

The newest prescription sleeping pill on the Canadian market is over 20 years old, he said.

“We did not have anything new released on the Canadian market as a way of helping pharmacologically individuals that have a sleep problem for a very long time,” he pointed out.

Besides pain, some common causes of chronic insomnia include:

Conditioned Insomnia

Those are people, for example, who fall asleep on the sofa watching TV, but the second they try to sleep in bed it’s like their mind is going 200 miles an hour. “The bedroom literally gets conditioned, for a variety of reasons, as a place of struggles instead of a place for sleep,” Moscovitch said;

Insomnia Due To Other Sleep Disorders

That can be due to restless leg syndrome or sleep apnea,

For Example: Psychiatric Conditions

In particular depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and schizophrenia may lead to problems with insomnia;

Medical Conditions

These include diabetes and bladder problems, for example. Mismatch between body clock and scheduled sleep time.

“We have about 50 million shift workers in North America now. We are moving more and more into 24/7 types of operations, practically in every industry,” Moscovitch pointed out, adding that shift workers may have difficulty falling asleep during daylight hours.

Teenagers and frequent business travellers are also prone to sleeping disturbances caused by their body clock and scheduled sleep time not being in sync.

Drugs and Alcohol

“Alcohol in particular is notorious for causing long-term sleep problems, and taking away the refreshing quality of it,” Moscovitch said.

Various Environmental Factors

For example, what kind of person you are sleeping next to. Is it a loud, disruptive snorer? Do they move around a lot?

Also, take into consideration the quality of the mattress you’re sleeping on.

Source: Chilliwack Times

One of the things that was discussed was sleep and its role in preventive medicine.

Since I was able to stay awake throughout the discussion, I will pass some of the information along to you, as well as a couple other sleep tidbits.

Because of the poor quality or lack of sleep, many people can be classified as sleep-deprived. The National Sleep Foundation reports that more than one half of adults surveyed (58 percent) experienced insomnia at least a few nights per week within the past year.

This can lead to serious consequences. Studies have shown that sleep deprived drivers are more likely to be in collisions and health care workers are more likely to make errors that affect their patients’ health. It has been found that major industrial accidents (Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Exxon Valdez) have been associated with sleep deprived night shift workers.

A study reported at the American Diabetes Association’s 61st Annual Scientific Sessions revealed that the incidence of insulin resistance, which is associated with diabetes development, was higher in persons who got five or fewer hours of sleep each day.

Sleep disorders and insufficient sleep have been found to be associated with multiple other chronic medical conditions, including obesity, strokes, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease. Other sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, have also been reported to be associated with high blood pressure and Alzheimer disease.

On average, most adults need seven or eight hours of sleep each night, although the normal range is from five to ten hours. Teenagers need an average of nine hours. Infants need about 16 hours every day.

Sleep disorders increase with age. Therefore, the elderly are much more likely to have sleep problems, including insomnia and a lack of deep sleep. However, studies have shown that a daytime nap of an hour or so improved the abilities of the elderly to think and function, without a significant impact on nighttime sleep. Napping may also help many younger people, if their schedules allow for naps.

It is important to know the kinds of behavior that disrupt sleep. For example, the bedroom should be reserved only for sleeping and sexual activities rather than more general activities such as watching television or reading.

We should maintain a regular sleep schedule if possible, performing relaxing activities before bed. Going to bed only when sleepy and getting out of bed after 15 minutes if unable to sleep (returning to bed later) have been shown to re-establish the psychological connection between the bedroom and sleeping.

Daily exercise is important for sleeping well. But we should exercise about five or six hours before going to bed to avoid the stimulating effect of exercise immediately before trying to sleep. In addition, we should avoid nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol for a similar time period before sleep.

Sedatives and other sleep-inducing medicines can be effective temporarily for patients who do not respond to relaxation techniques and sleep hygiene practices. However, many people will find that if they concentrate on some of the other steps for healthy living, their insomnia will improve.

Source: Terry Gaff, KPC News

A new study undermines the credibility of the original report that claimed a link between XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome, by showing that the labs that performed tests for the original 2009 report do not reliably detect the virus.

So is this the nail in the coffin for the XMRV-chronic fatigue syndrome link? Not quite.

The authors of the 2009 paper are admitting the new findings demonstrate that some of their results were invalid. But they say their conclusion still stands, and as such, they are retracting part but not all of their 2009 paper.

The new study and partial retraction are published today (Sept. 22) in the journal Science.

Problems detecting XMRV

Finding the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome has long eluded researchers, so when in 2009 a group reported that about two-thirds of patients with the mysterious disease had XMRV, a mouse virus, in their blood, they caused quite a stir.

That study, published in Science, led to hope that a cause of chronic fatigue syndrome had finally been found and that treatments could follow. However, further studies were unable to find the virus in patients’ blood.

In May, Science published an “expression of concern,” about the 2009 paper, saying that laboratory contamination with the virus may have been to blame for the 2009 findings.

In the new study, researchers at nine different laboratories tested the blood of 15 patients previously reported to have XMRV. Of this group, 14 had chronic fatigue syndrome. The labs also tested the blood of 15 healthy people who were previously reported not to have XMRV.

Two of the labs that participated were involved in the original 2009 paper. The labs all looked for XMRV, and didn’t know which samples they were testing.

Only two laboratories found any evidence of XMRV in their samples, and these were the labs involved in the 2009 paper. These labs detected XMVR in healthy people just as often as in chronic fatigue syndrome patients. And the two labs didn’t agree on which samples were positive for the virus, the new study found.

Furthermore, when a single sample was divided into two or three parts, and each part tested, the results were inconsistent. And even when some samples were “spiked” with XMRV, the labs sometimes didn’t detect the virus.

The findings suggest the labs involved with the 2009 paper are not using good tests for XMRV, the new study said. Their methods may not been accurate enough to specifically detect XMRV, or some of their lab samples may be contaminated with XMRV, said Michael Busch, a researcher at the Blood Systems Research Institute in San Francisco, who co-authored the new findings.

“The reliable tests are showing no evidence of infection in humans,” Busch told MyHealthNewsDaily.

Future research

The new study is another piece of evidence that that “there’s a serious problem with the original analysis that indicated there was a connection” between XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome, said Mary Ann Fletcher, a professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who has studied possible causes of chronic fatigue syndrome.

But Fletcher said the XMRV controversy is “not going to hurt the field of chronic fatigue syndrome research.”

“This is the perfect example of the scientific method,” in which a hypothesis is tested, a proposal is made, and other scientists try to replicate the results, Fletcher said.

Studies looking for other agents that may cause chronic fatigue syndrome are in the pipeline, Fletcher said. These studies are large and have followed people forward in time. These studies are also expected to weigh in on the XMRV-chronic fatigue syndrome link, she said.

In explaining why they are standing by their conclusion that XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome are linked, the authors of the 2009 study claim that XMRV could be elsewhere in patients’ tissues besides the blood.

The new study does not rule out this possibility, Busch acknowledged. “But original data were based on blood samples,” and so any suggestion that XMRV is somewhere else would be speculating beyond the evidence shown in the 2009 paper, Busch said.

Source: Fox Health News

Dr. Morin’s team surveyed a sample of 2,000 people across the country to draw a portrait of Canadians’ sleep quality.

Their data revealed that 40% of respondents had experienced one or more symptoms of insomnia at least three times a week in the preceding month, i.e., taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, being awake for periods longer than 30 minutes during the night, or waking up at least 30 minutes before they had planned. Moreover, 20% of the participants said they were unsatisfied with the quality of their sleep, and 13.4% of respondents displayed all the symptoms required to diagnose insomnia.

Although many respondents experienced at least one symptom of insomnia, only 13% said they had consulted a healthcare professional about it. The survey data revealed that Canadians use prescription medicine (10%), natural products (9%), over-the-counter drugs (7%), or alcohol (5%) to treat their sleep problems.

Surprisingly, the researchers observed that 9.5% of French speakers suffered from insomnia compared to 14.3% of English speakers. However, French speakers take more prescribed sedatives (13% vs. 9%) and natural products (16% vs. 7%) than English-speaking Canadians.

“Many people who suffer from insomnia try to treat the problem themselves rather than consulting a healthcare professional,” said Dr. Morin, a professor and researcher at Université Laval’s School of Psychology. “This is not a good idea because we don’t know the risks and benefits of products that have not been approved by government health agencies,” he explained.

Source: Jean-François Huppé, Université Laval, via EurekAlert

One study shows that not sleeping for more than 20 hours and then getting behind the wheel can make you as impaired as someone who’s legally drunk.

Stephanie Lynn, 18, was a ballerina who loved being on stage, but she had to give up her dancing dreams a few years ago because she wasn’t dreaming enough.

“I’ve always just had a lot of trouble sleeping,” said Lynn.

Lynn has tried sleeping pills, melatonin and sleep studies. So far, nothing has worked.

“I look at the clock, it’s 3:00. I look at the clock, it’s 4:30,” she said.

About one in four Americans have trouble sleeping from time to time. Close to 25 million are chronic insomniacs.

People who suffer from sleep deprivation face serious health problems, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

“If you start gaining weight, then you’re more prone to sleep apnea, and there’s a whole bunch of other complications that comes with that,” said Dr. Akinyemi Ajayi, a sleep specialist at Florida Hospital.

Ajayi said that staring at gadgets with bright screens for hours on end could be the source of our sleep problems.

“It can potentially impact the secretion of melatonin, which then affects your drive, your ability to go to sleep,” he said.

A recent poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that 95-percent of people surveyed used some sort of gadget within an hour before bedtime.

“Try and shut off your computer at least an hour to an hour-and-a-half before bedtime,” said Ajayi.

Ajayi said the same goes for video games, cell phones and televisions, because shutting them down can boost your melatonin.

Lynn said she’s interested to find out if technology is causing her problems.

“Maybe I can try departing from my cellphone tonight and see how it goes,” she said.

She hopes to find an answer, and turn her dream of getting back to ballet into a reality.

Ajayi said using your gadget to listen to soothing sounds or a relaxing playlist is OK. But he said listening to the radio to fall asleep is a bad idea, because, unlike a playlist, you don’t know what’s coming next. At any time, something can spark your interest and you could be wide awake in an instant.

Source: Denise Dador, KABC TV