Sleep Disorders : Sleep Apnea And Narcolepsy Essay

“Why do we sleep?” is a very popular questions that many humans ask today. Sleep is very sufficient to the human body. If it was not important, then God would not have designed for a third of our life to be occupied by sleep. During this time period, many people are interested to know what is a good amount of sleep and what are the harmful effects to not getting enough sleep.

As stated in a previous statistic, sleep disorders unfortunately target a wide variety of ages. Children are commonly affected by Sleep Apnea, teeth grinding, Night Terrors, Nightmares, sleep walking, Restless Leg Syndrome, bedwetting, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Adults tend to be affected by Insomnia, Hypersomnia, Sleep Apnea, Narcolepsy, Sleep Paralysis, Hypopnea Syndrome, and Noctoria. Sleep disorders are very common and also very dangerous in some circumstances. Ill treating or ignoring sleep disorders can lead to lethargy, poor mood, lack of motivation, and may negatively impact

Sleep apnea is a common sleeping disorder where a person has experiences of not breathing during sleep. Over 20 million Americans, mostly overweight men, suffer from sleep apnea. Despite these numbers, sleep apnea is often not treated directly because its symptoms are thought to be those of depression, stress, or just loud snoring. There may be a genetic component to this disorder as it often occurs within families.People with sleep apnea stop breathing for at least 10 seconds at a time; these short stops in breathing can happen up to 400 times every night.

     Sleep is essential to life; it is one of several components, including food and water, which keep the living alive. However, a significant percentage of the human population has considerable difficulty reaching and maintaining Stage IV within their sleeping patterns, the stage that allows the mind and body to fall into a deep and restorative sleep, otherwise known as REM sleep. At the core of this difficulty is a condition known as obstructive sleep apnea, a "serious, potentially life-threatening condition that is far more common than generally understood" (Sleep Apnea). Indeed, obstructive sleep apnea can be very dangerous if it is not properly detected and treated.

The accuracy of the diagnostic of narcolepsy is an important. First we need to determine if the cause of the narcolepsy is not another sleep disorder as OSA. Documentation of physical evaluation that should document degree of alertness and patients behavior. Medical history examination have to be analyzed. Use of questionnaires to assess subjective sleepiness and sleep patterns. The most used questionnaire is th Epworth Sleepiness scale and a MSLT study performed in an accredited Sleep Center.

          The dictionary defines sleep as “The natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored” (Webster’s 638) If one is waking up on an average of 300 times per night, the chances of complete body restoration are minimal. The Greek word apnea literally means “without breath”. An estimated 30 million Americans stop breathing during their sleep sometimes 30-40 times per hour and often for a minute, or longer each time. Of these, about 20 million are in the early stages, and about 10 million have progressed to a level of severity that requires treatment. According to the National

Sleep apnea is a serious health epidemic that is linked to another problem currently gripping the nation: the rising rate of obesity. Obesity and sleep apnea are so tightly connected that it is hard to discuss one without the other. Understanding the connections between obesity and sleep apnea can help you create a path towards treating both of these dangerous problems.

Narcolepsy is characterized by four classic symptoms: “excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis” (Dauvilliers, Beziat, Pesenti, Lopez, Barateau, et. al, 2017 p. 1358). As previously discussed, the study conducted by Lišková consisted of six unrelated measurements and surveys based on sleep routine and personality conducts such as anxiety and dissociative tendencies. It is obvious that measures in sleep disorders are widely disorganized and consist of tests and questionnaires defined as relevant by the researchers. As means of standardizing and validating the Narcolepsy Severity Scale (NSS), researchers Dauvilliers, Beziat, Pesenti, Lopez, Barateau, et. al developed a concise self-report standardized test to measure the four classic symptoms and their severity. A study consisting of 175 adults diagnosed with narcolepsy was executed to determine the validity and reliability of the NSS. The NSS measured participants before, during, and after treatment. Compared to the study of SP in university students, this study included a control group. The control group consists of seventy narcolepsy patients without treatment. One major setback to the NSS thus far is that the standardized test was not administered to children. It is likely that the questions and self

Do you get elbowed, and told to roll over in the middle of the night? Do you wake up in the morning exhausted? It’s possible that you could have a severe and potentially fatal disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea. OSA can affect anyone; from infants to adults, the healthy and physically fit, and the obese.

I know that personally, I take sleep for granted. Having the ability to lie down after a long day and close my eyes, knowing that in the morning I will wake feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, is something that I haven’t really thought twice about. From reading this chapter, I have learned that many individuals are not so lucky. Sleep-wake disorders can affect a person’s life in tremendous ways. This broad category is broken down into two more specific categories – Dyssomnias and Parasomnias.

that Dr. Arthur J. Speilman of the Department of Psychology in New York spoke of,

Sleep has been an important topic of research for many years. Early sleep literature only reported observations from sleep habits to compare and contrast with the data taken from the wake state. Before the majority of the science behind sleep was discovered, it was assumed that sleep was when the brain “turned off” and was in an entirely homogeneous state (Dement, 1998). Slowly, advancements were made in the study of sleep, including in 1729 when Jean Jacques d’Ortous deMairan demonstrated the persistence of circadian rhythms and in 1877 when narcolepsy was first described in medical literature (Dement, 1998; “Sleep Research Timeline”, 2017). Sleep research has since become much more advanced and is progressing quickly.

Many disorders and diseases can result from abnormal sleeping patterns that are triggered from sleep deprivation. The most common forms of sleep disorders include insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy (NINDS 10). All of these sleep disorders begin from sleep deprivation and can be managed once they are diagnosed correctly. According to Urban, “Nervousness, dizziness, and sleeplessness may occur”, as a result of sleep deprivation (1). This proves that the slightest health changes can occur if sleep deprivation becomes a problem. According to NINDS, “The disorders and the resulting sleep deprivation interfere with work, driving, and social activities” (10). This shows that the effects of being sleep deprived can drastically change one’s everyday

Sleep disorders have always surrounded me through family and friends. though I never suffered with any sort of sleeping disorder, I was well aware of how unnerving it can be toothless who suffer from it. I did not know all of the different types there were, and was intrigued when reading chapter three of my psychology book. I had assumed that nigh terrors, which I used to think were the same as nightmares, were over exaggerations of a person’s scary dream. Sleepwalking also held interesting facts that I didn’t know prior. Having a best friend who occasionally sleepwalks, I was always interested in why she would seldom remember both walking and talking. I also appreciated learning about sleep apnea because my father used to struggle with it and would worry my mom about his breathing when he was asleep.

The first and most researched sleep disorder is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea does not affect children as often as it effects adults, but it is still a rising concern. Sleep apnea occurs in about 2 per cent of children, mainly between the ages of one through eight. But it can also show up in older children and even infants. (Klein). Research says that young blacks are more at risk than young whites. (Fritz p 83). Children with sleep apnea briefly stop breathing many times during the night due to an obstruction in the respiratory tract. Most of the time it is related to enlarged tonsils and adenoids or to obesity. As the child will gasp for there breath during sleep, they awaken for a few moments to regain there normal breathing and then they immediately return back to sleep. Because the child will be awoken by this many times during the night, this cause sleep deprivation. (Common Sleep Problems AA). The physical symptoms of sleep apnea are excessive daytime sleepiness, snoring, restless sleep, heavy and irregular breathing, excessive perspiring during the night, bad dreams, sleeping with there mouth open, sleeps in strange positions, morning headaches, learning problems, excessive irritability, depression, changes in personality, difficulty