Sleep is extremely important to help the body regenerate, yet too often we find that our patients, even young children, don’t get enough sleep. The cause could simply be too much to do or too many distractions, but often a sleep disorder is the problem.
Sleep disorders include:
● Chronic insomnia , where you have trouble more than a few times a week falling asleep or staying asleep.
● Teeth grinding or clenching, which can cause temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems, headache, and tooth damage.
● Sleep apnea, or shallow breathing that causes loud snoring and frequent miniawakenings from lack of oxygen throughout the night.
● Restless legs syndrome, which causes a crawling or “antsy” feeling in the legs and a powerful impulse to move the legs. This usually happens when the person is sitting or lying down and prevents restful sleep.
● Narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that causes trouble sleeping at night and periods of extreme daytime sleepiness.
Depression, irritability, memory and mood problems can all be associated with sleep disorders, as can unexplained chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, and fibromyalgia-like muscle soreness. Lack of sleep also raises your level of the stress hormone cortisol—and high cortisol levels are associated with weight gain, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes.