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Apart from the many sleeping problems and the after effects of lack of sleep there is something known as sleep paralysis. This sounds weird though as we never seemed to have heard of such a type of paralysis, but there are people who suffer from this horrifying experience of sleep paralysis, and are petrified to go to bed at night even though they are dead tired and sleepy.
So what exactly is sleep paralysis, and how you can tackle it, and master the potentials behind sleep paralysis take a peek andt benefit right away.

A research at the University of Washington shows that the people who work in the night or do a night shift are deprived of their peaceful sleep at night. This sleep which the body requires is reduced to a large extent; this is because how much ever a person sleeps in the day time it cannot compensate or the night sleep. The hands of the clock always go clockwise and the numbers always start from zero to ten.
When a person is deprived of sleep the insulin levels take its toll. Due to the fluctuating insulin levels the risk of neurodegenerative disorder in the brain increases, which culminates into a mental disorder such as Alzheimer. In such cases there is a gradual memory loss which can be life threatening. In the normal course insulin promotes the learning and memory, but the resistance cases inflammation which is an important step in the development of Alzheimers.
A person who is deprived of his prescribed period of sleep can interrupt a bout of depression.

According to Carlos Schenck, a psychiatrist at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorder Center, apart from the many sleeping disorders such as eating or driving while sleeping sexomania is one of the most critical disorders, including masturbation, fondling another person, intercourse and other sexually assaultive behavioural patterns.
This sleep disorder can be the outcome of various other physical and mental ailments such as, Restless Leg Syndrome, Insomnia, Narcolepsy or severe tiredness, making people feel very embarrased and humiliated.
However it is important to know that such an ailment can be treated and cured over a period of time with the help of proper medication and diet.

Allergic rhinitis affects all aspects of sleep, according to a new study.

"Allergic rhinitis is common and has been shown to impair social life and sleep," Dr. Damien Leger, of Center du Sommeil et de la Vigilance, Paris, France, and colleagues write in the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Patients with severe symptoms may have more sleep disturbances than those with a mild form of the disease, but this has never been assessed using a validated tool."

In a nationwide study, the researchers studied 591 patients who had allergic rhinitis for at least a year and a comparison group of 502 unaffected "control" subjects.

Overall, 85 percent of allergic rhinitis patients were being treated for their disease. Also, the team notes, 24 percent of allergic rhinitis patients had asthma, compared to less than 2 percent of controls.

Compared to people with mild allergic rhinitis, those with severe allergic rhinitis had significantly impaired sleep. The subjects with allergic rhinitis used significantly more sleeping pills and alcohol than controls.

"A total of 43.7 percent of patients with allergic rhinitis reported a feeling of fatigue on awakening despite a normal night's sleep," Leger's team writes.

"Headache at awakening, anxiety, and depression as contributing factors of sleep problems and daytime somnolence were significantly more frequently reported by patients with allergic rhinitis than by the controls," the investigators add.

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The Family Doctor site provides information about nightmares and night terrors among kids.  Nightmares are scary dreams that most children have from time to time. One in every four kids has nightmares more than once a week. Most nightmares happen late in the sleep period, between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Your child may come to you for comfort and may be able to tell you what has frightened her.

A child who suffers from a night terror will probably wake up screaming, and may be sweating and breathing fast. Night terrors usually happen during deep sleep, between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Your child may scream out while still asleep, and maybe confused when awoken. She may not be able to tell you what has frightened her.

Nightmares and night terrors could be triggered by stressful emotional or physical events. If these persist for over six months, you should discuss them with your child's doctor.

Make sure that your home is safe for a child who has nightmares or night terrors. Use toddler gates on staircases and don't use bunk beds for children who suffer from nightmares.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a discomfort in the legs which is relieved by moving or stimulating the legs. This feeling is difficult to describe and commonly referred to as a crawling, tingling or prickling sensation.

Most patients experience symptoms during a period of inactivity, such as reading, watching television or riding in a car.  The symptoms can be temporarily relieved by getting up and walking around, or taking a hot shower, or rubbing the legs.

Medications have been found useful in the treatment of RLS.

Sleepnet's RLS homepage has a number of useful links providing information about RLS.

Yaron Dagan, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the Institute for Fatigue and Sleep Medicine at Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Israel, and has worked with over 600 patients who have sleep/ wake schedule disorders.

Dr Dagan reports that most of these patients have been treated successfully with melatonin.

"We found melatonin to be a very good treatment for these patients. In Israel, [melatonin] is a pharmaceutical substance that needs a physician's prescription and is prepared in pharmacies. The usual dosage...is 5 mg taken daily at a fixed time [usually 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.]. Melatonin treatment is well established in our treatment protocol," he said. "It has to be emphasized, however, that this treatment is only effective for biological rhythm disorders [sleep/wake schedule disturbances and jet lag], but it is not a miracle sleeping pill for psychophysiological insomnia."

Dagan added that he has not confronted any major side effect.

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17 year old Peter Polansky who was ranked no. 1 on Canada's junior tennis circuit, almost died when he jumped out of his hotel room window in his sleep.

A violent dream caused Peter to kick the glass of the window and fall three storeys.

"Uh, well, I saw like a black figure, with like a knife just standing by my bed, towards where the door was. I said to myself, 'I need to get away,'" he said.

It was all a dream that drove him out a three story window. It turns out, Polansky nearly sleep-walked to his death.

Sleep disorders and depression are  linked and while insomnia is often seen as one of the symptoms of depression, about 15% of depressed people sleep too much.

Lack of sleep alone does not cause depression, but it does play a role. Sleep deprivation caused by another medical illness or by personal problems can make depression worse. An inability to sleep that lasts over a long period of time is also an important clue that someone might be depressed.

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Although jet lag afflicts all travelers who are traversing different time zones, it was not considered a medical condition until recently. Now, it is recognized as one of the 84 known sleep disorders.

A person suffering from jet lag has a biological clock which is out of sync with local time. When traveling to a new time zone, our bodies are slow to adjust and remain on their original biological schedule for several days. The result is that we feel excessively sleepy during the day or wide awake at night.

The severity of the jet lag symptoms is usually directly related to the number of time zones crossed by a flight. Jet lag symptoms typically last longer following eastward flights. Flying east usually results in difficulty initiating sleep, where as flying west results in early morning awakenings. All age groups are susceptible, but individuals over the age of 50 are more likely to develop jet lag.

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Advanced sleep phase syndrome (ASPS) is a disorder in which a person’s sleep time is early in relation to the time of day. This syndrome results in symptoms of evening sleepiness, an early sleep onset, and an awakening time that is earlier than desired.

What causes ASPS?
The disorder is related to circadian rhythms, which regulate the internal biological clock and influence functions such as sleep-wake patterns. While the causes are not exactly known, it is believed to an inherited condition. ASPS is more likely to appear in the elderly.

What are the symptoms of ASPS?
People with advanced sleep phase syndrome have:

• An inability to stay awake until the desired bedtime and/or an inability to remain asleep until the desired time of awakening.
• A habitual sleep period that is of normal quality and duration, with a sleep onset earlier than desired.
• The tendency to awaken spontaneously earlier than desired.

In people who have ASPS, daytime school or work activities are not affected by sleepiness. However, evening activities are cut short by the need to retire early. Typical sleep onset times are between 6 and 8 p.m., and no later than 9 p.m., and wake times between 1 and 3 a.m., and no later than 5 a.m. These sleep-onset and wake times occur despite a person’s best efforts to delay sleep to later hours.

How is ASPS treated?
Advanced sleep phase syndrome is treated with chronotherapy--a behavioral technique in which bedtime is systematically delayed--or with bright light therapy. Bright-light therapy is designed to reset a person’s circadian rhythm to a later hour.

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Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) is a disorder of sleep timing. People with DSPS tend to fall asleep at very late times, and will subsequently sleep later in the day having difficulty waking up in time for normal work, school, or social needs.

What causes DSPS?

The exact cause of DSPS is not known, but the disorder is related to circadian rhythms, which regulate the internal biological clock and influence functions such as sleep-wake patterns. DSPS can occur in people who have experienced head trauma or serious illnesses. In these cases, the body's natural healing process might disrupt normal circadian rhythm and leave the biological clock unable to reset itself. Many teenagers tend to have delayed sleep phase but often grow out of it.

What are the symptoms of DSPS?

DSPS is characterized by the inability to fall asleep before early morning (for example, midnight to 3 a.m.) and difficulty waking in the morning. Usually, people who have DSPS can fall asleep when the body signals that it is time. Sleepiness does not usually occur before this delayed period. If a person tries to force the body into a particular phase, symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and altered eating habits might develop.

How is DSPS treated?

DSPS treatments are meant to adjust a person’s circadian rhythm and sleep pattern. The goal of treatment is to fit a person’s sleep pattern into a schedule that can allow the person to meet the demands of a desired lifestyle. Treatment is meant to allow the person with DSPS to wake up at a given time feeling refreshed and functional. People receiving treatment gradually adjust to an earlier bedtime with sleep therapy. This therapy usually combines proper sleep hygiene practice and external stimulus therapy such as bright light therapy and chronotherapy. Chronotherapy is a behavioral technique in which bedtime is systematically adjusted. Bright-light therapy is designed to reset a person’s circadian rhythm to the desired pattern. When combined, these therapies might produce significant results in people with DSPS. Patients can also be treated with one medicine that puts them to sleep earlier in the evening and another medicine that helps wake them up in the morning, but this form of treatment is usually used only in extreme cases.

Sleepwalking, formally known as somnambulism, is a behavior disorder that results in walking or performing other complex behaviors while in deep sleep. It is much more common in children than adults and is more likely to occur if a person is sleep deprived. A sleepwalker is often difficult to awaken and will probably not remember the sleepwalking incident.

Sleepwalking usually involves a series of complex behaviors, the most obvious of which is walking. These may include simply sitting up in bed and looking around, walking around the room or house, leaving the house and even driving long distances. It is a common misconception that a sleepwalker should not be awakened. In fact, it can be quite dangerous not to wake a sleepwalker.

The prevalence of sleepwalking in the general population is estimated to be between 1% and 15%. The onset or persistence of sleepwalking in adulthood is common, and is usually not associated with any significant underlying psychiatric or psychological problems. Triggers for sleepwalking may include sleep deprivation, sedative agents (including alcohol), febrile illnesses, and certain medications.

Sleepwalking is more common among children, especially those between the ages of three and seven, and occurs more often in children with obstructive sleep apnea. There is also a higher instance of sleepwalking among children who wet the bed. Sleep terrors are a related disorder and both tend to run in families.

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Picture courtesy flickr.com

Kleine-Levin syndrome is a rare disorder that causes recurring periods of excessive drowsiness and sleep (up to 20 hours per day). The symptoms may last for days to weeks and include excessive food intake, irritability, disorientation, lack of energy, and hypersensitivity to noise.

Some patients may also experience hallucinations and an abnormally uninhibited sex drive. Affected persons are normal between episodes, although depression and amnesia may be noted temporarily after an attack. It may be weeks or more before symptoms reappear.

The onset of Kleine-Levin syndrome is typically around adolescence to the late teens. The disorder is 4 times more common in males than in females. Symptoms may be related to malfunction of the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that governs appetite and sleep.

Is there any treatment?
There is no definitive treatment for Kleine-Levin syndrome. Stimulants, including amphetamines, methylphenidate and modafinil, administered orally, are used to treat sleepiness. Because of similarities between Kleine-Levin syndrome and certain mood disorders, lithium and carbamazepine may be prescribed. Responses to treatment have often been limited.

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From the Cleveland Clinic Health Information Center website:
Circadian rhythm disorders are disruptions in a person’s circadian rhythm, the "internal body clock" that regulates the 24-hour cycle of biological processes. The term circadian comes from Latin words that literally mean "around the day." There are patterns of brain wave activity, hormone production, cell regeneration, and other biological activities linked to this 24-hour cycle. Circadian rhythms determine a person’s sleeping patterns.

What causes circadian rhythm disorders?
Circadian rhythm disorders can be caused by many factors, including:

• Shift work
• Pregnancy
• Time zone changes
• Medicines
• Changes in routine

Common circadian rhythm disorders:

• Jet lag or rapid time zone change syndrome: Sleep disruptions of people who travel across time zones.
• Shift work sleep disorder: Affects people who frequently rotate shifts or work at night
• Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS): People with DSPS tend to fall asleep at very late times and have difficulty waking up in time for normal work, school, or social engagements.
• Advanced sleep phase syndrome: This syndrome results in symptoms of evening sleepiness, an early sleep onset, and waking up earlier than desired.
• Non 24-hour sleep wake disorder: A condition in which an individual has a normal sleep pattern but lives in a 25-hour day. Throughout time the person’s sleep cycle will drift in and out of normal societal norms, sometimes falling asleep at a later time and waking up later, and sometimes falling asleep at an earlier time and waking up earlier.

How are circadian rhythm disorders treated?
Therapy usually combines proper sleep hygiene techniques and external stimulus therapy such as bright light therapy or chronotherapy. Chronotherapy is a behavioral technique in which the bedtime is systematically adjusted. Bright-light therapy is designed to reset a person’s circadian rhythm to a desired pattern. When combined, these therapies might produce significant results in people with circadian rhythm disorders.

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The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has published a ‘Hypersomnia Information Page’. Persons with hypersomnia experience recurrent episodes of excessive daytime sleepiness or prolonged nighttime sleep, and are compelled to nap repeatedly during the day.
Patients often have difficulty waking from a long sleep, and may feel disoriented. Other symptoms may include anxiety, increased irritation, decreased energy, restlessness, slow thinking, slow speech, loss of appetite, hallucinations, and memory difficulty. Hypersomnia typically affects adolescents and young adults.

Possible causes:

• Another sleep disorder (such as narcolepsy or sleep apnea).
• Dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, or drug or alcohol abuse.
• From a physical problem, such as a tumor, head trauma, or injury to the central nervous system.
• Certain medications, or medicine withdrawal, may also cause hypersomnia.
• Medical conditions including multiple sclerosis, depression, encephalitis, epilepsy, or obesity may contribute to the disorder.
• Some people appear to have a genetic predisposition to hypersomnia; in others, there is no known cause.

Is there any treatment?

Treatment is symptomatic in nature. Stimulants or other drugs may be prescribed. Changes in behavior (for example avoiding night work and social activities that delay bed time) and diet may offer some relief. Patients should avoid alcohol and caffeine.

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