Sleep disorder; causes and treatment

Author

Affiliation

Course

Instructor

Due date
 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).

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.