Sleep Deprived? You Might Have a Sleep Disorder

By David B. Cohn, MD

Everyone has occasional problems sleeping.

But if you regularly cannot get a good night’s sleep or your snoring is disrupting the sleep of a loved one, you may suffer from a sleep disorder.

Left untreated, a sleep disorder can lead to chronic sleep deprivation and adversely affect your health, work performance, school and relationships, so it is important to seek professional help. 

The Sleep Center at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center offers adults and children comprehensive care, including diagnosis, treatment and follow up.

Sleep Apnea Linked to Dangerous Health Conditions

More than 70 million Americans suffer from sleep problems such as trouble falling asleep or waking during the night, according to The National Center on Sleep Disorders.

Temporary issues such as a stressful day or too much caffeine can disturb sleep.

However, research shows that more than half of people with sleep problems suffer from a chronic sleep disorder and may not realize it.

One of the most common sleep disorders is obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when muscles in the back of the throat relax during sleep and tissue blocks the airway. This causes you to either briefly wake up or come out of a deep sleep to re-establish breathing. These episodes can happen a few times or as many as several hundred times each night.

Obstructive sleep apnea is troublesome because when a person stops breathing, oxygen levels in the blood drop. Over time, this can affect the brain and heart. As a result, sleep apnea has been linked to dangerous health conditions such as heart attacks, high blood pressure, and stroke.

Sleep apnea can affect anyone at any age, but it is most common in men and people who are overweight.

Other common sleep disorders include:

• Insomnia. The inability to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night.

• Restless leg syndrome. Unpleasant or uncomfortable sensations in your legs and an irresistible urge to move them, which can interrupt sleep.

• Narcolepsy. A condition where the brain is unable to regulate your sleep-wake cycle, resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness, unwillingly falling asleep during the day, and uneven or interrupted sleep at night.

• Dream-enactment behavior.  A condition in which you physically move in bed while acting out their dreams, sometimes with violent movements or with vocalizations.

Signs of a Sleep Disorder

Signs of a sleep disorder and resulting chronic sleep deprivation vary depending on the disorder, but common symptoms include:

• Poor sleep quality.
• Not feeling rested upon waking up in the morning.
• Daytime sleepiness or fatigue throughout the day, particularly during passive activities like reading, watching TV, or working at the computer.
• Chronic snoring.
• Apneas (when breathing stops and restarts during sleep).
• Inability to shut off your mind when trying to sleep.
• Inability to stay asleep.
• Waking up before your desired time.
• Physical discomfort that disrupts your sleep.

If you routinely experience symptoms of a sleep disorder, consult your physician or a sleep specialist for further diagnosis and treatment.

Not getting enough sleep can affect your mood, alertness, and ability to concentrate, and can increase your risk of motor vehicle accidents.

Moreover, adults who are unable to achieve six to eight hours of sleep nightly are at increased risk of arrhythmias, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, infection, obesity and reduced quality of life.

Diagnosis and Treatment

If you suspect you have a sleep disorder, the typical first step is to schedule an overnight sleep study, which can be performed at home using equipment provided by a sleep center. For more complex sleep disorders or if you have certain underlying health conditions, your doctor may recommend the study be performed overnight in a sleep center.

A sleep study allows doctors to gather information about your brain waves, heart rate, breathing, and blood oxygen levels while sleeping in order to evaluate the quality of your sleep and make a diagnosis.

Treatments for sleep apnea include CPAP machines, which push air through your upper airway via a face mask worn during sleep so that breathing does not stop during the night. Other treatment options include oral devices, mouth and facial muscle exercises, surgically implanted devices, or surgical procedures.

For insomnia, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome and other sleep disorders, treatment may include medicine, lifestyle changes, and mental health therapy. If you are diagnosed with a sleep disorder, discuss treatment options with your doctor.

Tips for a Healthy Night’s Sleep

Getting enough sleep each night can be tricky even without a sleep disorder. Practicing healthy sleep habits can improve the quality of your sleep and help prevent the health effects of chronic sleep deprivation. Here are a few tips for maintaining good sleep health:

• Maintain a regular sleep schedule as much as possible by going to bed and waking up at the same time each day.

• Try to give yourself at least seven hours of sleep each night. 

• Avoid excessive alcohol at night. Alcohol may help you fall asleep more easily, but it can interrupt your sleep throughout the night. Alcohol also tends to worsen snoring and sleep apnea.

• Avoid napping during the day. If you must nap, try to limit napping to no more than 30 minutes during the day or evening. Prolonged napping will make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep at night.

• Don’t worry about sleep optimization. Sleep apps and sleep tracking devices can be helpful to get a general idea of how well and how much you are sleeping, and they could provide an early sign of an underlying sleep disorder, but don’t focus too much on the data they provide. Accuracy can be highly variable, and excessive attention to perfecting sleep performance can lead to anxiety about sleeping well, which can then further impair sleep quality.

The Sleep Center at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center is fully accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, a professional organization dedicated to assuring quality care for patients with sleep disorders, advancement of sleep research and public and professional organizations. Comprehensive services include overnight sleep studies, home sleep studies, daytime sleepiness assessments and individual treatment plans.

To learn more about the Sleep Center at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center, call (609) 853-7520 or visit www.princetonhcs.org.

David B. Cohn, MD, is board certified in pulmonary disease and sleep medicine. He is the medical director of the Sleep Center at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center.