Sleep Disorder Treatment – Full Guide

Sleep is the calming factor for the mind and body which helps in maintaining optimal health. Whatever problem arises in our lives, the common advice is to sleep on it and deal with it later. Clearly, sleep is the silver bullet to all our problems. Letting your brain and body take the time off and recharge is the best gift we can offer them. Proper sleep cleanses the mind and body. It rejuvenates the system and makes the body ready for the new day. 

Many studies suggest that a person needs 7 and a half hours per day. But in this fast world, no one sleeps that long. Sleeping time is cut off due to other priorities and sleep is often considered as a time wasted. People calculate sleeping hours roughly but fail to look into the quality of that sleep. 6 hours of quality sleep is always better than 8 hours of disturbed sleep.

Sleep Disorder:

A normal sleep cycle involves five 90 minute cycles. It involves non-rapid eye movement (NREM), Rapid Eye Movement (REM), and deep sleep. Any interruption in these cycles or disturbance in attaining any of the cycles is termed sleep disorder.  

Impacts of Sleep disorder:

Sleep is interconnected to many things and improper sleep can lead to many health problems. Some of them are listed below:

• Difficulty in memory retention, lack of energy, inability to focus, and inactiveness are some common impacts of sleep deprivation.
• Lack of sleep can cause diseases like cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, breast cancer, prostate cancer, etc.
• Hampered sleep is linked to anxiety, depression, and even leads to suicidal thoughts.
• Insufficient sleep results in a pale look on our faces.
• Sleep-deprived people have low levels of leptin (responsible for alerting the brain when the stomach is full)  and high levels of ghrelin (responsible for hunger initiation). So automatically lack of sleep leads to excess weight.

Insomnia:

Are you a night owl who couldn’t drift off even though how much you try? Or couldn’t you sleep for long hours? Well, this is called Insomnia. Insomnia is the trouble in falling and staying asleep at night. Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders that many people experience nowadays. The major causes of insomnia are anxiety, depression, irregular sleep patterns, poor lifestyle habits, traumatic experiences, or any chronic disease. 

People of any age can get insomnia but it is more common among adults. Insomnia varies from person to person. Some might experience it for a few nights which is termed acute and some may experience it for months which is considered chronic. If your case is the latter, you are in real trouble. Not being able to sleep properly can directly affect your mind, work, and productivity. People with insomnia would feel sleepy or experience a lack of energy at night.

Sleep Apnea:

Sleep Apnea is the frequent interruption of breathing during sleep. This causes a low supply of oxygen to the body which can even reduce the heartbeat and increase blood pressure. In general, the major causes of sleep apnea are airway blockage and nervous system dysfunction. If untreated, sleep apnea can cause many health problems like stroke, hypertension, heart attack, diabetes, etc.

Some common symptoms of sleep apnea are snoring, sudden difficulty in breathing during sleep, sweating, choking, and headache. There are two types of sleep apnea:

Obstructive Sleep Apnea: In this, the breathing airway gets blocked or there is some issue in the breathing path. The main reason is obesity, that extra muscles hurdle the way.

Central Sleep Apnea: When the brain does not alert the muscles for proper breathing. The main cause for this apnea cannot be placed specifically but might occur due to other diseases.

Parasomnia: 

Parasomnia is the occurrence of odd and unusual behaviors and movements during sleep. This includes sleepwalking, sleep paralysis, sleep talking, awakening due to bad dreams, general night terrors, fear in the half-sleep. These behaviors, most of the time are unprecedented and uncontrollable. 

Sleepwalking and talking are unconscious behaviors of walking or talking during sleep. Sleep paralysis is the freezing of the whole body and the person will not be able to move for some seconds or minutes. Other fear and night terrors also cause unusual speaking and screaming during sleep.

This is common among children as they are tender in nature and prone to fear of dark and night. Many adults also experience it due to various situations and incidents that happen in their lives.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder in which there occurs a sudden attack of sleep in the daytime and it is unprecedented. Sometimes, the disorder brings a sudden loss of muscle tone as well. People with Narcolepsy experience an uncontrollable need to sleep which disturbs their day-to-day activities as well. This can even lead to sleep paralysis. The patients with this disorder sleep anywhere and anytime. For example, They might be talking actively with you but all of a sudden they might doze off. The sleeping time ranges from a few minutes to half an hour. 

Some of the symptoms are modifications in sudden sleepiness during daytime, Rapid Eye Movement (REM), hallucinations, etc. In this disorder, the brain loses control over keeping the body awake. Our brain has a neurotransmitter called Hypocretin which is responsible for sleep/wake control. People with Narcolepsy have problems with Hypocretin.

Normally, a person falls asleep in the phase of Rapid Eye Movement (REM). But in Narcolepsy, the person may directly experience sleep without crossing REM. That is why sleep becomes uncontrollable. 

Restless Leg Syndrome:

Restless Leg Syndrome is the irrepressible need to move one’s legs frequently which occurs in the night hours. It is not pain or ache but the constant urge to shake or move legs. Often patients describe the feeling as a prickling or tingling sensation and to suppress the feeling they move their legs. It is also known as Willis-Ekbom disease.

In some cases, it is hereditary as well. It is passed on to generations. Crawling, itching, throbbing and all these sensations are usual in Restless Leg Syndrome. These sensations come and go. 

Treatment:

Sleep disorders can be cured with proper treatment. Correcting lifestyle changes and habits can induce proper sleep in our bodies. For chronic cases, the right medical treatment can cure and set the body and mind in the right state.

Lifestyle changes:

• Many times, insufficient sunlight may cause drowsiness and inactiveness. So step outside, soak up some natural light, and get your briskness back. 
• Stagnant bodies invite all sorts of diseases. Stretch your body, flex your muscles and put your body to work. 
• Restrict your screen time before bed. Excessive screen time limits the blinking of the eye and directly reduces one’s sleeping tendency. 
• A proper diet involving whole grains, vegetables, and fruits can be a game-changer because proper nourishment can cure malfunctions in the body automatically.
• Strictly adhering to regular sleeping time can work in your favor. Foods that are rich in magnesium will help in inducing sleep fast.
• Indulging oneself in meditation and yoga calms the mind and helps in attaining mindfulness which ultimately results in having a peaceful sleep.
• Reduce the intake of caffeine and alcohol as they increase wakefulness and prevent the body from sleeping.

Medical Treatment:

If any of the modifications in lifestyle changes don’t work, better resort to medical treatment. 

Modalert is one of the popular sleep disorder treatment pills. Modalert is best for the treatment of sleepiness and drowsiness during the daytime. It helps in attaining wakefulness and attentiveness to eliminate the effect of deprived sleep. The intake of Modalert can be done along with food or without food. It is an authorized tablet sold by many renowned pharmaceutical companies like Cadila, Ajanta, SunPharma, Ranbaxy, and Cipla. These are essentially licensed manufacturers who are duly recognized and accredited by the local FDA. Check with your doctor before taking modalert medications.

Sleeping pills induce sleep and aids in attaining an uninterrupted good night’s sleep. Other medications include melatonin supplements, acupuncture, and aromatherapy would help in treating sleeping disorders. If any supplement doesn’t work, your sleep disorder problem may be the secondary effect of any main disease. 

Sporadic occurrences of sleep disorders are not risky but prolonged ones are no joke. Like any other illness, sleep disorder also has to be taken seriously. Appropriate medication and treatment are a must to set the body and mind to square one. Hope this article gives clarity about the disorders and treatments in layman’s terms.