He althy sleep is necessary for a person like air and water. If you do not restore strength after a busy day at work, then the body becomes weak, immunity decreases. Narcolepsy is one type of sleep disorder that has a negative impact on he alth. Thus, there is a favorable environment for the development of infections and diseases. To avoid such consequences, you need to lead a proper lifestyle, combining work with leisure.
Sleep physiology
Sleep plays an important role in human life. During the night's rest, the body is restored in order to adequately perceive all the events of the new day.
Sleep is a state when active activity is inhibited, there is no consciousness and connection with the environment.
This period can be divided into two phases - REM sleep and slow sleep, and the latter, in turn, is divided into four stages.
Sleep begins with a slow phase
- Snooze. At this time, a person ponders all the events that have occurred throughout the day. The brain is working on "digesting" information, looking for solutions to problems that have arisen.
- Muscle tone decreases, pulse and breathing slow down. The brain gradually stops itswork, but the state of a person is several times close to awakening.
- Transition phase.
- Deep sleep. The most important stage, which gives the body a complete rest. A person at this stage is difficult to wake up, although there may be talk and sleepwalking.
After deep sleep, the third, second stage comes again, and only then does the phase of REM sleep, or, as it is also called, the phase of rapid eye movement, begin. Muscle tone is completely absent at this time, but brain activity increases, and with it, respiratory rate and blood pressure. This stage is also called paradoxical, since it is very difficult to awaken a person at this time. At the fifth stage, the most vivid dreams are dreamed. As a rule, they can be remembered in detail after waking up.
Thus, the physiology of human sleep consists of a sequence of two phases and looks like this: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 5. This order of sleep stages is repeated four to five times a night. One cycle takes approximately ninety minutes.
People spend a third of their lives sleeping. The optimal time for which an adult can sleep is eight hours; the child needs ten to eighteen.
What are sleep disorders?
Everyone has experienced at least once such phenomena as drowsiness and insomnia.
Main causes of sleep disorders:
- Situations that traumatize the psyche.
- Somatic and neurological diseases.
- Mental disorders accompanied by stress.
- Alcohol abuse,antidepressants, psychostimulants, drugs.
- Smoking.
- Jet lag.
- Night work.
Sleep disorders manifest as follows:
- Inability to fall asleep normally.
- Anxiety before sleep.
- Sleep is superficial with frequent awakenings.
- No deep sleep.
- After rest, a person feels not vivacity, but weakness and depression.
- Fatigue during the daytime.
There are several types of sleep disorders:
- Insomnia (insomnia) - complete or partial lack of sleep. The reason is ailments, overwork, medication, increased nervous excitability.
- Hypersomnia (narcolepsy) is a neurological disorder associated with the inability of the brain to regulate periods of sleep and wakefulness. In patients with narcolepsy, sleep begins immediately from the fifth stage (fast phase). Patients with this problem are more likely to suffer from mental disorders (schizophrenia). Therefore, when a person has such a sleep disorder, treatment should be carried out immediately.
- Hypersomnolence is a condition characterized by difficult awakening. A person does not seem to control himself, is in automatic mode. His mind is confused and unclear.
- Apnea is a brief absence of breathing during sleep. The result is daytime sleepiness and irritability.
- Klein-Levin syndrome - increased sleepiness for several days, which is replaced by bouts of hunger(bulimia).
- Sleepwalking is a disorder in which a person walks and performs various activities in their sleep. He does it automatically, unconsciously. Such behavior is dangerous both for the patient himself and for those around him.
Read more about narcolepsy
This desire to fall asleep at the wrong time. This feeling sometimes visits each of us. Some attribute this to nighttime insomnia, others to fatigue at work. In fact, increased sleepiness can be the beginning of a disease called narcolepsy.
A person becomes distracted, feels constant weakness and fatigue, he performs most of his actions on "autopilot". People often confuse this condition with the onset of respiratory infections, and therefore do not carry out timely diagnosis and treatment.
Causes of illness
Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder characterized by the desire to fall asleep at unusual times. This happens due to malfunctions in the brain, the areas of which are responsible for periods of wakefulness and rest.
Harbingers of the disease - headache, weakness, anxiety, hallucinations. Sleep disorders affect quality of life.
Increased sleepiness may be accompanied by catalepsy (a sudden loss of muscle tone that occurs spontaneously at the wrong time).
The causes of the disease have not been fully established. Scientists believe that drowsiness develops as a result of insufficient levels of the active brain substance - orexin. The disorder may alsooccur against the background of mental illness.
Narcolepsy symptoms can range from a constant desire to fall asleep to a complete blackout.
The following people are at risk:
- Head injuries.
- Pregnant women.
- Those with a family history of mental disorders.
- Children, schoolchildren, students.
Symptoms of disease
To recognize the disease and take timely action, you need to know its symptoms. Among the most common signs are:
- Drowsy during the day for no apparent reason.
- Sleep takes from a few seconds to fifteen or twenty minutes.
- Distracted, lack of concentration.
- Persistent fatigue. Falling asleep in minibuses, during conversations, at work.
- Weakness of the muscles in the knee area. Feeling like your legs are giving way.
- Temporary paralysis, sometimes accompanied by lack of speech.
- The appearance of hallucinations and other mental disorders.
- A person begins to dream as soon as he closes his eyes.
- Night sleep is interrupted.
- Inability to control oneself upon waking, morning catalepsy.
- Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).
- Tachycardia (increased number of heartbeats).
These symptoms in combination or singly occur in all patients with narcolepsy. Often they are taken for signs of diseases of a different nature. Over time, the symptoms increase and the person may becomedangerous to those around you. For example, when driving a vehicle or operating machinery.
Nightmares as the cause of the problem
All people experience nightmares at least once in their lives. Especially often small children see bad dreams. So, maybe that's why short daytime falling asleep (narcolepsy) is the result of terrible dreams? Fear, anxiety that a person experiences during a night's rest, as a result, leads to fatigue and depression during the day.
Nightmares are normal, but they can not only make you want to sleep, but also affect your overall he alth.
Firstly, terrifying dreams are the first step towards depression and stress, against which cancer can even develop! Sometimes such dreams also lead to suicide.
Secondly, nightmares that torment a person at night often cause obesity, diabetes and heart disease, blood vessels. Therefore, such sleep disorders must be combated.
Troubleshooting:
- Psychotherapy. Consultations of a psychologist, psychiatrist.
- Dieting before bed. Overeating makes our brain more active during sleep, which in turn provokes the appearance of terrible dreams.
- Stress management. Yoga, long walks in the fresh air, including before going to bed. A good way is meditation. Favorite activities, hobbies - knitting, embroidery, beading, reading books and magazines, watching positive films will also help to cope with depression and stress.
- Relaxing and soothing baths before bed.
- Special attention should be paid to those drugs that a person is accustomed to using. Perhaps the reason for restless sleep lies precisely in them. This applies primarily to antidepressants and tranquilizers.
- Need to minimize the use of caffeine, alcohol, reduce the number of cigarettes smoked.
- It would be nice to learn to dream and abstract. Positive emotions and attitude can defeat nightmares and insomnia.
- You should learn to combine work and leisure. Most nightmares are caused by overwork.
- Visit a couple of hypnosis sessions.
It should be noted that nightmares can not only cause illness, they also warn a person about existing problems. So listen to your body!
Is the disease the result of insomnia?
Narcolepsy symptoms are the most controversial. However, the main ones are drowsiness and catalepsy. Often the desire to sleep in the daytime appears when a person does not get enough sleep at night. The main reason is insomnia.
Insomnia is difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. This problem is faced by a significant part of the world's population. Moreover, different age categories.
The causes of disorders can be the following:
- Inappropriate sleeping environment - noises, screaming, uncomfortable mattress or pillow, temperature, insects, partner snoring.
- Newunknown environment - moving, traveling, flight, abrupt change of time zones, unusual night work (for example, a shift method - the body gets used to not sleeping for a couple of nights, and as a result, when you need to sleep, you can’t do it).
- Illnesses accompanied by pain, difficulty breathing, bowel and bladder disorders.
- Depression, stress.
Insomnia, like narcolepsy, requires immediate treatment. A person who spends a long time without sleep becomes like a drug addict - he is irritable, tense, his state is distracted and anxious. Of course, this can't end well.
The main treatments for insomnia are the same as for narcolepsy or nightmares: more activity during the day, relaxing baths, favorable emotions and limiting daytime sleep.
Herbal teas and infusions that have a calming effect are good in the fight against insomnia.
Often, doctors prescribe sleeping pills to treat these disorders. The disadvantage of drugs is that the body quickly gets used to them. Therefore, the best assistant is folk remedies that act more gently.
Secrets of traditional medicine. Recipes for medicinal decoctions
- Two tablespoons of crushed hop cones insist one hour in 500 ml of boiling water. Strain and drink a quarter cup three times a day before meals. Easy relaxation guaranteed.
- Tincture of peony root. The medicine can be purchased at a pharmacy. Take it three times a day, one teaspoon.
- Calming and soothing actionhas a motherwort. Four tablespoons of grass should be poured with a glass of boiling water and insisted in a closed dark place for about two hours. Drink a third of a glass half an hour before meals.
Diagnosis and treatment
First of all, in order to exclude other possible diseases, you should consult a specialist with bouts of narcolepsy. Medical sleep disorders are treated by a somnologist.
After examining and studying the patient's complaints, two tests are performed to confirm the diagnosis - for multiple sleep latency and polysomnography.
Polysomnography is a study of a patient's sleep, during which all physiological processes are recorded - snoring, body position, facial expressions, brain activity, tone, limb movements, respiratory rate. Diagnosis is carried out in a medical institution using special devices and electrodes. This method allows you to determine most of all sleep disorders. The multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) is scheduled the day after the polysomnogram.
MSLT is carried out in the same way, only sleep during the day is studied. The test is done 5-6 times with an interval of two hours. After such an examination, specialists receive a sleep pattern - a pattern that will be specific for patients with narcolepsy.
On top of that, they can also prescribe encephalography - a diagnosis of the bioelectrical activity of the brain.
Today, this disease is incurable - narcolepsy. Treatment is aimed only at alleviating the unpleasant symptoms of the disease. For this they canprescribe drugs that normalize sleep. The patient is advised to follow the daily routine and lead a he althy lifestyle, as well as give up bad habits.
Prevention of sleep disorders
The best prevention of the problem is physical activity, walks in the fresh air and proper nutrition. Unfortunately, we live in a time when few people think about a he althy lifestyle. Work - home - work. People began to pay less attention to themselves and their he alth. Hence all the ailments! Signs of illness in many cases are associated with sleep disorders. By following simple rules, you can avoid conditions such as insomnia and narcolepsy (their causes have been described above).
- Wake up and go to bed around the same time.
- Limit caffeinated substances.
- Avoid drinking alcohol in the evening hours.
- If you have problems sleeping at night, you need to limit or exclude sleep during the day.
- Exercise and sports are essential activities for those with the problems described above.
- Warm soothing baths with herbs and aromatic oils have a beneficial effect.
- It is not recommended to eat food before going to bed.
- Emotional overstrain, nervous breakdowns, stress should be avoided.
- Do not abuse drugs, especially tranquilizers.
- If such activities do not help eliminate sleep disturbance, treatment should be done with medication.
Sleep problems (insomnia, narcolepsy) are, unfortunately, not uncommon today. However, such an issue needs to be resolved somehow, otherwise the person will soon become angry, irritated and not at all interested in life. There are, of course, cases when people exist calmly without a night's sleep and feel great. They can be called an exception to the rule, a phenomenon.
The record holder in the nomination "life without sleep" was Belarusian Yakov Tsiperovich. At almost sixty-two, he has not slept for thirty-six years! After clinical death, the man simply lost the ability to sleep. Moreover, he practically does not age. Science has yet to explain this mysterious fact. Ukrainian Fyodor Nesterchuk competes with Yakov, who has not slept for 20 years in a row. He does not get tired and does not feel weak. A man replaces night rest with reading books and playing chess with a computer.
Conclusion
How a person rests affects his mood and he alth. Sleep disorder is a disease that requires a reasonable approach and proper treatment. Having overcome the disease once, you will not receive a 100% guarantee that secondary narcolepsy or insomnia will not occur. These problems are sometimes life-threatening. In this case, both the patient himself and those around him can suffer. After all, accidents in factories or on the road are often provoked by short-term sleep, which people suffering from chronic sleep deprivation are simply unable to control.
A person who is faced with sleep disorders should know what narcolepsy is, how to get rid of itsymptoms and improve quality of life.
