A risk factor is something that increases your likelihood of developing a disease or condition. Insomnia, like other sleep disorders, has several potential causes and factors that can increase your risk of developing insomnia. Continue reading to learn more about insomnia and some of the risk factors that are associated with the condition.
Sleeping medications are known as sedative hypnotics. They relax the mind and body in order to help promote sleep. They are prescribed to people who have trouble falling asleep, and/or staying asleep, such as in the case of insomniacs.
Sleeping medications can be:
For insomniacs they can feel like a lifeline, but they also come with hidden dangers. Most notable, they are not a reasonable solution for people with untreated obstructive sleep apnea. In the words of sleep specialist Dr. Thomas Winkler, “For my patients with untreated sleep apnea, I tell them [taking sleeping pills] is a bad idea.”
Sleep apnea is a medical disorder where you repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night, anywhere from 40-100+ times per night. When you stop breathing you temporarily wake up to start breathing again. You are unaware of these arousals in the morning, so you will feel unrested, but be unsure why.
Sleep apnea is a medical condition and sleeping disorder where you repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night. This can happen because of obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, or complex sleep apnea, which is a combination of both. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common and can be classified as mild, moderate, or severe.
Insomnia is a sleeping disorder that prevents you from getting enough sleep because you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep throughout the night, or waking up much earlier than intended, and can't go back to sleep.
If you have insomnia, you never feel like you are getting enough rest – probably because you aren’t. It’s frustrating to not be able to sleep when you want to, and accompanying this frustration are the physical and mental consequences of being sleep-deprived. Continue reading to learn more about the different types of insomnia.
What’s the Difference Between “Normal” Snoring and Problematic Snoring?
Nearly everyone snores occasionally, and in many cases, mild snoring is not harmful. However, frequent or disruptive snoring can sometimes point to a more serious underlying issue. When snoring begins to interfere with sleep or daily life, it may be considered problematic.
Signs of problematic snoring can include:
Your snoring keeps your bed partner or roommate awake
Your bed partner needs earplugs to sleep
Your snoring has become a frequent source of family jokes or concern
You snore most or all nights
So what makes snoring “socially unacceptable”? In simple terms, it means the snoring is disruptive enough to affect the people around you. More importantly, loud or chronic snoring can also be a warning sign of an underlying medical condition—most notably obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), for which snoring is a common symptom.
If your snoring is causing problems, it’s worth taking a closer look to find out whether there may be an underlying cause.
A sleep study, also called a polysomnogram (PSG), is a non-invasive study conducted at a sleep center. Sleep specialists monitor your sleep via PSG equipment to assess your sleep quality and, where applicable, any sleep disorders with which you may be dealing.
During a sleep study, many aspects of your sleep will be evaluated and monitored, such as:
Results from your sleep study are analyzed by sleep physicians and sent to your healthcare practitioner to review with you.
Childhood insomnia is not often talked about, but it is a very real issue. The signs may not be obvious unless you have a child overtly acting out and sleep deprivation is identified as the main issue.
Childhood insomnia, like adult insomnia, is defined as difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping until the next morning.
Unfortunately, identifying childhood insomnia is difficult because symptoms largely overlap with seemingly normal child and teen behavioral changes:
Continue reading to learn more about childhood insomnia.
Sleep apnea is a medical sleep disorder where you stop breathing for short periods (10 seconds or longer) throughout the night. When you stop breathing, your brain eventually rouses your body, and you wake up. This results in you getting a poor night's rest because you wake up so many times during the night.
There are three types of sleep apnea:
These sleep apneas have many negative side effects, most notably:
Let's look at obstructive sleep apnea vs. central sleep apnea in more detail.
Is your or your partner’s snoring the primer for family jokes? Does your loud snoring come with an “earplugs required” caveat for your partner? Is your snoring the rule, not the exception?
Chronic, loud snoring may be a bigger personal problem than just a nuisance for other people who have to listen to your nightly nasally noises. In other words, while their sleep might be disrupted, your snoring might be caused by a medical condition called sleep apnea, which can have significant health consequences. Or, maybe you are just a loud, chronic snorer.
Knowing the difference and telltale signs between loud snoring and sleep apnea is important, as identifying the potential problem underlying your chronic snoring is the first step to getting healthy again.