The Science of Sleep: Overview
The Brain in Sleep: Understanding Sleep StagesOne way to understand...
Eight Straight Sleep Polls
Do you think you might have a sleep problem? Take our sleep problem quiz, then compare your responses.
Loading Poll...Q: Having a hard time falling asleep
~ Beth Elhard
A: There are may be several reasons for this, perusing the eightstraight.com forums may help you better identify your cause, or post more general information about your lifestyle for further help.
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A healthy life includes healthy sleep. How to know you’re getting the sleep you need, and how you can get more of it.
Sleep Disorders: Hypersomnia
Often confused with narcolepsy, hypersomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by excessive sleepiness. This often manifests itself as a deep or prolonged sleep from which it is difficult to awaken. Hypersomnia’s onset can be very gradual and often goes unnoticed at first. The symptoms of hypersomnia are similar to narcolepsy, depression, and sleep apnea.
Narcolepsy is sometimes misdiagnosed or mistaken for depression, a seizure disorder, fainting, or dismissed as simply the result of an extreme lack of sleep. It is actually a chronic neurological condition caused by the brain’s inability to regulate sleep cycles normally. Sufferers experience an overwhelming and uncontrollable desire to fall asleep at various points during the day. When the urge becomes overwhelming, narcoleptics will fall asleep for periods lasting from a few seconds to several minutes- and in rare instances, several hours.
Sleep Disorders: Sleep Apnea
Often mis-perceived as a condition limited to the overweight, sleep apnea actually affects men and women of all ages and body types. Suffers of sleep apnea are troubled by disturbed sleep brought on by irregular breathing while they are at rest. This causes them to wake up many times a night (as often as twenty to thirty times every hour). These constant disturbances prevent the body from cycling through the necessary stages of sleep that provide them with the rest they need. This leads to a sense of chronic sleepiness, which in turn can impair judgment, hand-eye coordination, concentration, and can contribute to depression.
Sleep Disorders: Insomnia
Chronic sleep deprivation, or insomnia, makes you prone to errors at work. It slows your reaction time and impairs your concentration. It can even put you in danger if you doze off while driving, and it makes all kinds of accidents more common. As many new mothers know, lack of sleep can make you short-tempered and cranky, even with those who need your patience the most.
Sleep Disorders: Overview
Simply put, a sleep disorder is any condition – physical, mental, or emotional – that prevents someone from getting a good night’s sleep. Not all sleep disorders are serious, but left untreated they can have make life very difficult and can lead to serious health problems.
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Sleep Tips
Sleep debt matters: those co-workers who are so proud of getting only five hours of sleep a night might need to spend longer at the office to get the same amount done.
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