Types Of Sleep Disorders | What You Should Know About It

You should know more about how and when sleep cycles take place and understand the types of sleep disorders as well because sleep is about a third of everybody’s life and is an essential part of restoring body energy.

Adults need from seven to nine hours daily of good sleep and this may vary from one to another.

Did you ever wonder how everybody can go from awake to sleepy, then awake, and so on? What clock controls these cycles?

Not our worn clocks which control sleep and awake cycles, everyone has his internal physiological clock which starts from the brain.

What is circadian rhythm, simply

Circadian rhythm is the internal physiological clock that controls the 24-hour cycles of the body.

It starts from a part of your brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the thermostat of the body, regulates heat, cold, hunger, and thirst, and circadian rhythm.

That’s why you feel sleepy when you are tired, the thermostat regulates the process and makes you fall asleep to rest and restore energy.

Role of body thermostat in falling asleep

First, the hypothalamus communicates with the pineal gland, which is called so because it looks like a small pine.

The pineal gland secretes the sleep hormone, and you may have heard about it in drug stores as a drug or films containing melatonin, did you?

Melatonin acts on your body calming it out, slows your heart and temperature, and starts to change the sent waves.

The hypothalamus also communicates with the brainstem. The brainstem is the end part of the brain thus it connects your brain with the body. 

It’s part of the arousal and consciousness process so when it’s time to sleep it shuts off the connection between body and brain, therefore information is not sent up to the brain and no thinking or activities are allowed.

In addition to increasing the major inhibitory chemical GABA, that’s how your consciousness decreases and It’s bedtime.

How these waves have been detected

Scientists managed to detect the changes in sent waves by the EEG that converts what happens in your brain activity into a chart on a computer. This chart explains types of wave transformation during sleep.

EEG moreover helped them to categorize sleep into 4 stages. These stages make it more clear to realize what happens and when types of sleep disorders take place.

How many sleep stages and When do types of sleep disorders arise

Sleep stages are four, three non-REM stages and one REM stage.

Non-REM1 stage

 It’s light sleep when you start to sleep and you may wake up by any external stimulant, and it’s similar to some extent to you being awake.

Non-REM2 stage

It’s maintaining sleep. The hypothalamus domains and shut off information from getting to the brain and thinking processes.

Non-REM3 stage

After maintaining sleep you can get into deep sleep peacefully. This is the deep sleep stage, thus may lead to some types of sleep disorders based on other factors as we will mention lately.

REM stage

Refers to the rapid eye movement stage, where your eyes move rapidly in this stage. Therefore it’s a paradox stage, where your brain is active and your eyes are moving but you’re still sleeping and have a characterised muscle paralysis.

This stage gets longer over the cycles, hence the deep sleep gets shorter. REM stage is also for remembering your dreams, thus it is included in types of sleep disorders.

These stages repeat over and over and each cycle lasts for 90 minutes on average, and this may repeat four to six times on normal nights.

Types Of Sleep Disorders |  What You Should Know About It

Types Of Sleep Disorders

There are many types of sleep disorders which are over 80 types, though the most common of them is insomnia disorders and there are other types of sleep disorders that you may hear about for the first time.

The most used medical classification of types of sleep disorders is the International Classification of Sleep Disorders, with its last update in the third edition, text revision (ICSD-3-TR) which classifies sleep disorders into six major categories 

- Insomnia Disorders

- Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders

- Central Disorders of Hypersomnolence

- Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders

- Parasomnias

- Sleep-Related Movement Disorders

Many types of sleep disorders may be treated with CBT which is cognitive behavioural therapy. 

It has no harm and is considered an effective treatment method as it changes the way you think and your behavior resulting in improvement.

Medicines are also a method of treatment adjacent to another therapy depending on what types of sleep disorders or severity.

Insomnia

Most people have suffered from insomnia at some point in life. It could be normal, but it becomes a sleep disorder when it is severe or lasts for too long, altering daily life, learning, working, and attention. It may occur as periods come and go or persist.

Insomnia is a difficult sleeping disorder, whether you can’t sleep when it’s time for sleep, your sleep is interrupted in the middle of the night, or you don’t get enough sleep.

It may lead to distress about not being able to sleep, even anxiety, and high mortality, so treatment in these cases must be immediate. Furthermore, insomnia alters social life, and mental health and causes pain, so it’s a serious condition of the types of sleep disorders and must be treated.

Secondary insomnia is caused by other factors like drugs, lifestyle, or disease but not inherited but primary insomnia has a high incidence in both women and old age factors.

Treatment

CBTI is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, considered the first line of insomnia treatment for four to six weeks to get better persistent results with no harm at all.

CBTI relieves the distress of thoughts about sleep and provides a good lifestyle and routine for sleep.

Some adjacent medications, such as hypnotics may be prescribed for a short time, as their effects fade once you stop them and have side effects and sedation perception while you’re awake the next day as well, thus they’re not to be considered a long-term therapy.

Types Of Sleep Disorders |  What You Should Know About It

Obstructive sleep apnea

OSA is one of the types of sleep disorders belonging to the sleep-related breathing disorders category.

Hence, apnea is obstruction of the air pathway, as breath stops during sleeping, resulting in waking up at night and not getting into deep sleep or completing the sleep cycle again easily, this affects daytime activity because of reduced sleep quality at night.

Obstruction worsens because of muscle relaxation during sleep and the way the body is lying down.

Treatment

Treatment of sleep-related apnea varies from: 

- Simple sleep hygiene

- Physical activities, and not lying on your back but on your side

- Weight loss 

- Some breathing devices that help during sleep

- Even procedures in some cases to make the upper airway bigger is an OSA treatment

Narcolepsy and Idiopathic Hypersomnolence

Narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnolence are the most common disorders of central disorders of the hypersomnolence category.

They are characterised by excessive daytime sleepiness despite getting enough night sleep which affects these people's activity and life.

Feeling sleepiness all day any time and any place could be as disruptive and annoying as lack of sleep and insomnia disorders, so hypersomnolence is considered one of the types of sleep disorders.

Treatment

Healthcare professionals advise to try:

- Sleep hygiene by getting divided naps during the day with medications to promote waking, in addition to sleeping at the same time at night every day.

- Support and patient advocacy may help patients get more information and advice about how to deal with and pass a sleepiness situation.

- CBT also has shown a positive impact on narcolepsy patients which is called CBT-N.

- Medications are more effective in these cases, modafinil a stimulant, and wake-promoting drug is the choice for most cases. It’s been favored over other stimulants for the reason that it has fewer side effects and low abuse.

Jet Lag disorder

It's one of the types of sleep disorders belonging to the circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder category which is temporary with no threat to life.

It occurs to those who travel across several time zones may be more than three zones and get their circadian rhythm disrupted resulting in difficulty sleeping at bedtime and waking in the morning.

Treatment

Jet lag can be self-resolved within one or two days for each time zone crossed. Melatonin medications also may help in promoting sleep as well.

Restless leg syndrome (RLS)

Restless legs condition especially at bedtime or during sleep is an example of the types of sleep disorders.

In this condition, the patient feels the urge to move his legs to get rid of a sudden bad sensation, when they rest, especially at night. This affects their sleep time which affects their daily tasks and concentration.

Genetics and iron deficiency are the main common known causes, but the treatment isn’t clear yet.

Treatment

Symptom control helps these cases like 

- Lifestyle changes such as alcohol and caffeine cessation, avoiding electronics before bedtime, and regular sleep time.

- Anticonvulsants like gabapentin.

- Iron supplements if iron deficiency is the cause.

- Remedies like ice or warm baths, leg stretches, and leg messages.

Sleepwalking (Somnambulism)

It’s a type of parasomnias category of types of sleep disorders when patients do activities while in deep sleep like walking, going to the bathroom, and also driving in some reported cases.

It’s a life-threatening condition with no certain causes but it may be associated with some narcotics like Z drugs such as zolpidem.

Treatment

- Regular sleep hygiene may help with this condition

- Relaxation and reducing stress

Sleep paralysis

A condition when people can’t speak or move because of muscle paralysis but they’re awake and see what happens, similar to what happens in the REM stage.

This could happen before sleep or after waking up and lasts for only a few seconds or moments and in most cases, they may report hallucinations like seeing someone in the room or feeling some chest pressure.

Treatment

Since sleep paralysis isn’t a dangerous condition of the types of sleep disorders and is not frequently repeated, it has no specific treatment.

In individuals with recurrent episodes of paralysis, this may precept anxiety about sleep and bedtime affecting their sleep quality and daytime so doctors may advise the following 

- Regular sleep hygiene is the same as many types of sleep disorders treatment

- Avoid stimulants like caffeine before sleep

- CBT may help as well

Bruxism

It’s also considered to be related to types of sleep disorders, which are known as involuntary and repeated hard teeth grinding during sleep and may be due to genetics, sleep apnea, or anxiety reasons.

Bruxism isn’t life threatening but the power of grinding may harm the teeth and jaw so it needs treatment.

Treatment

Bruxism may be relieved by some home remedies and splint therapy as experts don't prefer medications for long-term use for their side effects and limited benefit.

Some home remedies for bruxism are

- Jaw hot compresses

- Staying hydrated

- Relaxation, meditation, and jaw stretching exercise

- Avoid stimulating foods and drinks in the evening and avoid hard foods

- Magnesium, vitamin C-rich foods, and turmeric milk.

- Splint Therapy

You may have known about some types of sleep disorders and read about others for the first time.

Sleep is an important routine part of the day for everyone as people recharge their energy and get rest to continue their life tasks, so any disorder concerning this part must affect the whole day, be annoying, and may be life-threatening in some types of sleep disorders.

Regular sleep hygiene is a must to avoid sleep disorders and get good quality sleep to maintain productive daytime and minimize anxiety.

Don’t hesitate to see your doctor or ask for treatment to manage your disorder if you feel fatigued and sleepy during the day, wake up during the night, or can’t fall into deep sleep until late at night to start treatment and improve your life quality.

Read more about:

Eating Disorders in Pregnancy

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