Archive for November, 2006

We all need good night sleep, although there are varying differences with circadian rhythms and sleep styles to be energetic, to be alert, and to stay healthy.

Sleep is made up of distinct stages with certain characteristics defined by brain waves, eye movements, and muscle tension.

In a sleep lab, electroencephalography (EEG), electro-oculography (EOG), and electromyography (EMG) are used to record these stages. The two broad categories of sleep include:

• Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep
• Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep

REM Sleep

There are small, variable-speed brain waves, rapid eye movements like those of eyes open wakefulness, and no muscle tension during REM sleep. It is during REM sleep that you have most of your dreams. You may have a recall of vivid imagery when you wake up from REM sleep.

NREM sleep is composed of four different levels or stages - 1, 2, 3, and 4, which are characterized by different combinations of brain waves, eye movements, and reduced but not absent muscle tension. Different stages of sleep include:

• Stage 1 - light sleep
• Stage 2 - moderate sleep
• Stages 3 and 4 - deep or delta sleep

One of the most unusual and least common of all sleep disorders is narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy is a medical condition and sleep disorder that causes chronic and uncontrollable instances of daytime sleepiness.

Narcolepsy is classified as a chronic neurological disorder. It is thought that narcolepsy is caused by the brain’s inability to adjust normal sleep-wake cycles. The cause for this irregularity remains unknown.

Narcolepsy sufferer can experience the sudden onset of sleepiness and fall asleep at a moment’s notice. They may drop whatever they happen to be holding, become limp, and fall to the floor in sleep.

Symptoms of Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy sufferers may also experience three distinct symptoms apart from the sudden onset of uncontrollable sleepiness.

• The first is cataplexy, which refers to bouts of irregular muscle weakness or paralysis that occurs without loss of consciousness.
• The second symptoms are hypnopompic and hypnogogic hallucinations, which refer to hallucinations experienced while waking up or falling asleep.
• The third symptom related to narcolepsy is sleep paralysis.

Narcolepsy can wreak havoc on an individual’s quality of life with the frequent disruptions of sleep patterns. Narcolepsy patients complain of feeling consistently fatigued and irritable.

Sleepwalking can be very disturbing.

Imagine going to sleep at night and getting up in completely different place or you might wake up in your own bed, but your family members tell tales of you walking and talking to them.

You have no recollection of the events when you wake up. Doesn’t it sound spooky?

Approximately 10% of the population has bouts of sleepwalking, many of them children. Sleep walking is also known as somnambulism. Often, it is during the deep sleep phase, sleepwalking occurs.

The common belief that you should not wake sleepwalkers is dangerous. Actually, if you do not wake them, they have a great potential of hurting themselves or the people around them.

Causes of Sleep Walking

• Lack of sleep is the biggest factor that causes sleep walking. A person’s consciousness is affected when that person is deprived of sleep.
• Stress, anxiety and worrying about something can kick off episodes of sleepwalking.
• Extreme fatigue can also play a factor in the cause.
• Sleeping disorders and other health conditions can contribute to this event. For example, kids with asthma and sleep apnea are more prone to sleepwalking than others because their conditions are not always conducive to a good night’s sleep and rest.

Circadian rhythm refers to the inner body clock.

Your circadian rhythm is in charge of coordinating your daily sleep-wake cycle.

Your body in fact has hundreds of circadian rhythms.

Your circadian rhythm operates on a 24-hour cycle.

To set your circadian rhythm each day your brain relies on outside influences such as daylight. To set our internal body clocks our bodies depend on these external cues.

Our sleep and wake patterns, body temperature, hormones, performance, moods, digestion, and other bodily functions are all genetically programmed to take place at certain times.

As a result, certain universal rules apply. For example, body temperature is at its highest at around 5 P.M. and then starts to drop.

Alertness and performance follow the same pattern. For someone working through the night, when psycho-motor functions are crucial, the importance of being fully awake is obvious.

Taxi drivers, pilots, machinery operators, medical staff, police, and power station workers all need to be vigilant around this time.

Any time that your circadian rhythm becomes interrupted for instance, if you experience several nights of sleep deprivation - your circadian rhythm is thrown out of sync.

We often push ourselves to our physical limits while traveling, almost to the point of exhaustion and deprive ourselves of sleep.

As a result, we may experience symptoms of sleep deprivation, which include:

• Headaches
• Decreased concentration and ability to focus
• Indigestion
• Irritability

It is imperative that we give our bodies the rest and relaxation it needs each night. Here are some tips to keep your sleep cycle on track if you are a frequent flier.

Tips regarding Flight

• Try to get mid-morning flights so you’re not a zombie from not getting sleep the night before. Schedule your flight so that you arrive at your destination in time for a full night’s rest.
• Do not take red-eye flights unless absolutely necessary. When reserving seats, be sure to choose those that will give you the most legroom, such as an emergency row, or aisle seat.
• Pack a tote with comfort items such as eye shades, bottled water, earplugs, lip balm, and moisturizer. Plan to wear loose clothing on the flight and dress in layers for warmth and comfort.

Periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS) is a condition during sleep in which the limbs twitch or jerk every 20 to 40 seconds.

Each movement lasts between half a second to five seconds and can involve the big toe, ankle, knee, and sometimes the hip.

PLMS was previously called as nocturnal myoclonus.

Some of the people who are suffering from PLMS also experience jerking of the arms.

Most jerking movements cause a brief awakening; as if every time you fell asleep, someone shook you just enough to wake you again.

PLMS is not to be confused with hypnic jerks, which only occur at sleep onset and are considered normal.

Causes of PLMS

The cause of periodic limb movements in sleep is unknown. Some doctors have suggested that the movements are caused by reactions in the brain, whereas others suggest it might originate in the spinal cord or may be associated with circulatory problems.

It is not unusual to also find PLMS in patients who have sleep disordered breathing or narcolepsy. Periodic limb movements in sleep has also been linked diseases such as

• Diabetes
• Renal disease

Narcolepsy can be described as an irresistible daytime sleep.

Narcolepsy patients may also experience cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations.

These four symptoms make up the term “narcolepsy tetrad.”

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness

In the middle of a conversation, while driving, or while eating a meal, narcolepsy sufferers may fall asleep unintentionally. Because of their excessive sleepiness, sometimes they are unable to remember much of what they do during the day.

They may suddenly “black out” while driving a car, forget that they performed specific tasks, or forget that they made certain phone calls.

These people have difficulty performing quality work during dull and monotonous activities. The sleepiness is sometimes alleviated by taking short naps throughout the day.

This magnitude of sleepiness often has undesirable consequences. Narcolepsy sufferers have difficulty in keeping jobs, friends, and personal relationships.

It is not because that sufferers of narcolepsy are sleepy because they are lazy, bored, or unmotivated, but rather because they have an underlying physiological problem.

Cataplexy

In addition to daytime sleepiness, about 70% of narcolepsy patients experience cataplexy. Cataplexy is a sudden muscular weakness, total loss of muscle tone, or paralysis brought on by strong emotions such as anger, fear, hearty laughter, or crying.

Night shift workers frequently experience symptoms similar to that of jet lag.

They will have a disrupted or less sleep due to the adjusting to changing work shifts, sleeping in a brighter room than normal, external noise, and daily life going on around them.

According to sleep experts, no one ever totally adjusts to frequent shift changes.

Day sleep after night work will result in two hours shorter than night sleep. Deep sleep does not appear to be affected. Many workers make up at least some of their lost sleep time on their days off.

Permanent Night Workers

Permanent night workers, i.e. people who work for five consecutive nights in a row are probably better off than somebody alternating shifts because they can stay on the same eating and sleeping rhythms even on their days off.

Even though this may be ideal in physiological terms, in social and family terms that kind of discipline is hard. The significant thing is to stay with the same eating rhythms and try to sleep the usual length of time.

Going to bed everyday at the same time is particularly essential for graveyard workers, whose attempts to fall asleep and stay asleep are harder than it is for conventional sleepers.