The ABCs of Sleep Disorders

Many people know about the most common and best-known type of sleep disorder from their own experience. Problems falling or staying asleep are often caused by increased emotional tension, anxieties and worries that follow us to bed. People who suffer from this have trouble falling asleep, or lie awake for a long time at night. In most cases the sleep problems only last for a few days. However, insomnia ranges from these kinds of occasional sleep problems to chronic sleep disorders that require professional treatment, sometimes causing serious issues for performance and well-being.

This includes illnesses that involve significant worsening of the breathing or even breathing interruptions while asleep. The most common disease pattern is obstructive sleep apnea, which is identified by loud, irregular snoring and frequent breathing interruptions lasting up to 2 minutes. It affects about four million people. One risk factor is excess weight -  fat deposits in the neck area restrict the airways. A lesser-known illness is Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS), in which the upper airways are restricted during sleep and make it harder to breathe without apnea (breathing interruptions).

Hypersomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by increased drowsiness and a tendency to fall asleep during the day. Daytime drowsiness can have various causes. Often, it is due to a lack of nighttime sleep. It can also occur as a result of drug or prescription medication abuse. In rare cases, it is due to an organic illness like narcolepsy. This illness, known colloquially as “sleeping sickness,” causes patients to fall asleep suddenly during the day. It can happen in any situation, for instance while driving a car.

Sleep disruptions caused by frequent, rapid time-zone changes (jet lag), for instance among pilots or flight attendants, and by night or shift work (about 15 percent of the work force) are very common. Our internal clock is “off” - the sleep/wake rhythm gets confused, along with many bodily functions that are linked to a 24-hour rhythm. Problems that disappear within a day or two after the occasional jet lag - or to a lesser extent, after resetting the clocks every 6 months - can cause insomnia and hypersomnia in the long term, with significant effects for the sufferer.

Parasomnia involves phenomena - undesirable and inappropriate behaviors - that unconsciously arise during sleep. The best-known, though fairly rare, disorder is sleepwalking (somnambulism): an unconscious activity that takes place in your sleep, lasting for seconds or minutes, and that you have usually forgotten about by the next morning.  Other manifestations include nightmares, pavor nocturnus (night terrors - waking up at night with a jolt, especially common in young and elementary-age children), eating or talking in your sleep (somniloquy) and sleep paralysis (complete inability to move or react, as well as an inability to speak).

Sleep-related movement disorders are relatively common. This group of sleep disorders also includes grinding your teeth (bruxism) and restless leg syndrome (RLS). About 17 percent of adolescents and 3 percent of men and women over 60 grind their teeth excessively at night. Tension is a common cause. Restless leg syndrome is characterized by pain while resting and paresthesia in the legs, or more rarely the arms. A wide range of symptoms can be involved:  stabbing, tearing, tugging and crawling sensations are typical. Movement provides relief. The syndrome is accompanied by subconscious, periodic limb movements. Four to eight million women and men in Germany suffer from RLS, ranging from small children to the elderly.  Women, especially mothers and pregnant women, are frequently affected. It is suspected that RLS is caused by a genetic predisposition.