SOLVING SLEEP DISORDERS

SOLVING SLEEP DISORDERS

FROM THE ARTICLE '4 Sleep Disorders Solved'
By Stephanie Schorow, Special to Lifescript
Published April 26, 2010

Do you toss and turn at night or wake up feeling exhausted? You could have a sleep disorder that’s keeping you from getting the zzz’s you need. Find out what causes these 4 common sleep woes and how to banish them for good. Plus, test your sleep IQ with our quiz…

Sleep: New moms dream about it. Night-shift workers rarely get enough. But they’re not the only ones not getting adequate pillow time. Most women don't either.

Adults need about 7-9 hours of sleep per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Yet most women age 30-60 years old are getting less – six hours and 41 minutes to be exact.

Unfortunately, it’s not just the resulting dark circles women have to worry about. Lack of sleep can trigger a host of problems, including:

    * Daytime sleepiness
    * Problems concentrating
    * Poor performance on the job or at school
    * Irritability
    * Increased likelihood of illness
    * Weight gain


“The more common the sleep loss, the worse the problems get,” says Douglas Kirsch, M.D., a sleep specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Experts agree that most people who boast about getting by on five or six hours of sleep are kidding themselves.

“They don’t realize how much better they would be with seven to eight hours,” says David Schulman, M.D., director of the Emory Sleep Disorders Laboratory in Atlanta.

Here are 4 common problems that get in the way of slumber and what to do about them:

1. Insomnia
2. Restless leg syndrome (RLS)
3. Obstructive sleep apnea
4. Narcolepsy

MY THOUGHTS

I have to cut this article because it's too long.  Will be posting the suggested cure for the 4 sleep disorders in separate blogs - including how to get a good night's sleep.