NeuroNews

How Common Are Sleep Disorders?

Sleep medicine is a fast growing field of healthcare because sleep disorders have become one of the most prevalent and common problems in our country today. However, we seem to have developed a macho kind of culture around being able to perform without sleep; even though we know that from all kinds of psychology experiments that if a person does not get enough sleep - even cut down by an hour a night - then they progressively develop a sleep debt and progressively have problems with their thinking and memory.

80-plus different sleep disorders

As a matter of fact, if a patient comes in to us for memory loss and they are 30-45 years of age, probably the most common thing we find is that they have a sleep disorder that is taking away some of their memory. The most common cause of sleep problems in our country is inadequate sleep, so you cannot be macho about this thing. You have to get enough sleep so that you feel rested in the morning. If you don't feel rested, then you may have one of 80 sleep disorders that can disturb your sleep at night.

Snoring isn't normal

Another common problem is sleep disordered breathing. Snoring is common, but it is not normal. It is always abnormal in infants and children and preadolescent children as well as teenagers. It is critical that these little folks get sleep in order to produce the hormones that allow them to grow. It is never normal in a 30-year-old, 40-year-old, or 50-year-old, and in that age group, it tends to produce cardiac problems with coronary artery disease and stroke as well as automobile accidents.

Dangers of sleep problems

If you have one ounce of alcohol and you are sleep-deprived, that can be the equivalent of having six ounces of alcohol, so it is a major public health problem. Sleep loss, sleep deprivation due to just inadequate sleep, not trying to get enough sleep, or to one of the many sleep disorders that are out there is a major public health problem in this country.

Important to get diagnosed

It is important in being able to treat patients with sleep disorders that you depend on the quality of your testing. Our sleep laboratory is nationally accredited. It is staffed by registered polysomnographers and people who come to our sleep center are seen by board certified sleep specialists who know how to interpret the tests and who participate in research trials for patients with various kinds of sleep disorders. So, sleep disorders are a pervasive problem that can lead to headaches, automobile accidents, premature death with stroke and coronary artery disease. They are not to be taken lightly, should always be evaluated completely, and treated appropriately. - by Vernon Rowe, MD