Sleep Disorders Information

If you have chronic problems during sleep, you're not alone. Over one-third of the general population suffers from some kind of sleep disorder. The Emory Clinic Sleep Disorders Center treats a wide spectrum of these conditions, including:

Insomnia

Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or periods of wakefulness during the night. It afflicts up to 10 percent of the population.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is an irresistible need to sleep no matter how much sleep you get. It can manifest in sleep attacks while talking, driving, or working, which last anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes.

The onset of narcolepsy usually occurs between 15 and 30 years of age and is caused by the disturbance of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep into a waking state.

The four key symptoms include:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Cataplexy (episodes of muscle weakness during emotional periods of laughter, anger, or surprise)
• Sleep paralysis (an inability to move when first waking up or falling asleep)
• Hypnagogoic hallucinations (dreamlike images that occur at the point of drifting off to sleep)

Parasomnia

This disorder encompasses a range of sleep events including:

• Nightmares
• Sleepwalking seizures
• Acting out of strange behaviors, even violence, during sleep

Parasomnia is rare, but it can cause extreme disruption to an individual's daily functioning and family life.

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) or Periodic Limb Movements (PLM)

RLS and PLM cause a person's legs or other limbs to jerk or move during sleep, which disrupts sleep and results in excessive fatigue during the day.

• The jerks typically occur every 20 to 40 seconds.
• RLS causes a crawling or tingling sensation in the legs that is only relieved by moving the legs. 

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes a cessation of breathing during sleep for intermittent periods of 10 to 60 seconds. The word apnea means "a cessation of airflow lasting at least 10 seconds." There are 2 main types of sleep apnea.

• Obstructive Sleep Apnea
  This is the most common type of apnea. It is caused by an obstruction in the throat.
  
  The narrowing of the upper airway caused by an obstruction can be a natural physical manifestation or it can be caused by a variety of factors, including:
  
  
  • Excess weight
  • Alcohol consumption before sleep

Physical manifestations of obstruction include

• An unusually large tongue
• Large tonsils
• The structure of the jaw in proportion to the air passage
• Excess tissue in the airway or nasal passages

Symptoms include:

• Loud snoring followed by a period of silence 
• Night sweats
• Waking up during the night with a choking feeling
• Waking up un refreshed or with a headache
• Trouble staying awake during the day
• Irritability due to fatigue

The apnea episodes usually occur repetitively.

• Central Sleep Apnea
  This form of sleep apnea is caused by a neurological function rather than a physical obstruction. It is the result of the brain's inability to properly signal a person to breathe during sleep.

Simple Snoring

Not everyone who snores has sleep apnea. Simple snoring or primary snoring is caused by light blockage of the passageway, but is not accompanied by an apnea or cessation of breath. However, simple snoring can also be disturbing to a person's sleep partner and can be treated by the Emory Clinic Sleep Disorders Center.