Getting good sleep is very important for maintaining good health. As you sleep, your organs and tissues rest and heal. Sleep also strengthens your immune system and helps get rid of toxic substances. Additionally, mental processes such as learning and memory are boosted while you rest.
Several health problems can get in the way of sleep. These disorders work in different ways to keep you up at night or to prevent your body from recharging while you’re sleeping.
There are several types of sleep disorders, which can lead to symptoms like:
Different disorders may cause varying symptoms. One of the most common disorders is insomnia, which makes it hard to fall asleep, causes you to wake up frequently throughout the night, or leads you to wake up early in the morning and have a hard time falling back to sleep.
Sleep apnoea is another common sleep disorder that causes you to stop breathing for short periods during sleep. Sleep apnoea can lead to snoring, choking, or gasping for air during sleep as well as waking up with a headache or dry mouth.
Other sleep disorders can make it hard for your brain to control sleep cycles (narcolepsy and circadian rhythm disorders), cause uncomfortable sensations that make you feel like you have to move your legs (restless leg syndrome), or lead to unusual behaviours such as talking or walking while sleeping (parasomnia).
Most people deal with these symptoms occasionally. For example, you may temporarily experience insomnia when you’re feeling extra stressed. However, you may have a sleep disorder if you have ongoing symptoms that do not improve.
Several factors can directly cause sleep problems or increase your risk of developing sleep disorders, including:
In some cases, you may be extra tired not because of a sleep disorder, but because you have not given yourself enough time to sleep. Most adults need at least seven hours of sleep per night, while children need more.
Your doctor may be able to diagnose a sleep disorder just from hearing about your symptoms. In some cases, your doctor may recommend a sleep study (polysomnogram), in which the activity of your heart, lungs, and brain are measured during sleep.
Insomnia and some other conditions can be lessened or avoided by adopting healthy sleep habits. To improve your sleep, try:
Sleeping pills are medications that can help improve your sleep. However, they often only work in the short term and do not address the underlying issues causing sleep disruptions.
Some sleep disorders require specific treatments. Insomnia can be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), a form of talk therapy in which you examine and adjust your beliefs and behaviours surrounding sleep. Sleep apnoea symptoms are often lessened with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, in which a mask or nosepiece gently pushes air into your mouth or nose while you sleep to help you breathe. Several types of medications can also help deal with restless leg syndrome or narcolepsy.