Sleep disorder; causes and treatment
Sleep is important in functioning of a human body as it aids in memory building, good vision, and brain functioning among others. These functions are adversely affected when sleep disorder occurs and has an impact on the quality of life and work performance (Ferreira, A. P., 2015).
Sleep disorder can be detected when one finds it difficult to fall asleep at the beginning of the night, or awakening slips over to daylight or even interruptions during sleep (Singh, P, 2016). Sleep disorders prevalence stands at between 10%-40% of the general population and interventions need to be taken so as to reduce health risks such as diabetes, obesity, depression and cardiovascular diseases (Karen J Klingman et al 2017).
International Classification of Sleep Disorder (ICSD) taskforce has classified insomnia into two broad categories; chronic insomnia disorder, combining both primary and comorbid insomnia where the insomnia is prolonged and prominent; and other sleeping disorders, which is short term or not very pronounced and where central sleep apnea disorder falls (Sateia, M. J. (2014).
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Insomnia may be caused by either physical factors such as electronic devices, job shifts or psychological factors such as estrogen, hormone shifts, genetic conditions or even pregnancy, medications and sleep related disorders (Singh, P, 2016). Hormonal shifts is common for women during pregnancy, menstruation, or menopause. Women who are in their menopause years, are more likely to have insomnia because of night sweat and hot flashes more often than women not yet in the menopausal years (Laura Lampio et al). Progesterone has a respiratory stimulant properties and it maintains the tone of genioglossus muscles. Lack of progesterone hormone in postmenopausal women increases their chances to get into sleep apnea hence causing sleep problems (Jehan, S et al 2015).
The type of insomnia will determine which medication doctors will recommend. They will also look at the health condition of the patient. The choice of medication should effectively treat the condition while minimize as much as possible the side effects. For this reason use of over-the-counter sleep aids should not be encouraged as they are not safe. In as much as it gives relieve, they are temporary short term interventions and they do not treat the condition in the long run. And furthermore they may become an addiction. Benzodiazepine hypnotics should not be prescribed if there are better alternatives with less side effects (Singh, P, 2016).
References
Ferreira, A. P. (2015). Prevalence and consequences of sleep disorders among traffic agents: a case study.
Jehan, S., Masters-Isarilov, A., Idoko Salifu, F. Z., Jean-Louis, G., Pandi-Perumal, S. R., Gupta, R., ... & McFarlane, S. I. (2015). Sleep disorders in postmenopausal women. Journal of sleep disorders & therapy, 4(5).
Klingman, K. J., Jungquist, C. R., & Perlis, M. L. (2017). Introducing the sleep disorders symptom checklist-25: A primary care friendly and comprehensive screener for sleep disorders. Sleep Medicine Research, 8(1), 17-25.
Lampio, L., Polo-Kantola, P., Polo, O., Kauko, T., Aittokallio, J., & Saaresranta, T. (2014). Sleep in midlife women: effects of menopause, vasomotor symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Menopause, 21(11), 1217-1224.
Sateia, M. J. (2014). International classification of sleep disorders. Chest, 146(5), 1387-1394.
Singh, P. (2016). Insomnia: A sleep disorder: Its causes symptoms and treatments. International Journal of Medical and Health Research, 2(10), 37-41.
