Some of the Newest Rare Sleeping Disorders

There are some really rare sleeping disorders being discussed and diagnosed every year. In 2005 there were a reported 684 deaths in the use caused by sleeping disorders. One of the strangest and newest is called Unexpected Nocturnal Death. It seems to mostly affect those from Southeast Asian and is thought to be caused by stressful dreams. One of the rarest has got to be Fatal Familial Insomnia. It is estimated that maybe 50 families in the world are affected by this genetic defect. An inherited gene is activated at one point in the person's life and causes a gradual insomnia; disallowing the person to never sleep. The victim falls into a coma and dies.

Growing Up With Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS)

Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) is a known sleep rhythm disorder. Most people with this disorder find it impossible to fall asleep until certain early morning hours. My theory for the disorder includes that it is a learned behavior. It is estimated that 3 of every 2000 adults have the disorder and severe conditions of the case will delay a person's sleep up to 4 hours. These people of course try to avoid jobs and appointments that follow society's 9 to 5 hours. Due to this, DSPS is sometimes referred to as a social jet lag. Teens and pre-teens are some of the highest to be susceptible to DSPS; thought to be around 7%.

Introduction to Bedwetting

Bedwetting is also known as nocturnal enuresis. Anyone can be a bed wetter; even adults. Adults might urinate involuntarily during a nightmare or while falling asleep during intoxication. The two types of bedwetting are named primary nocturnal enuresis and secondary nocturnal enuresis for children and adults respectively. Surprisingly adult urination in the bed can be around 0.5% to 2.3% of the population. A bedwetting alarm is one way that some people treat this sleeping disorder. This barbaric devices makes an alarm type sound or shocks the accuser with electricity if it senses urination within the bed.

People Prone to Sleep Talking

Sleep talking is a sleeping disorder that others get a laugh out of. A sleep talker is inclined to mention anything that enters their mind; without inhibition. Sometimes someone that talks during sleep will say things that are not even true because they discuss fantasies or wild dreams they have created. So it can be hard to separate fact from fiction during someone's sleep talk but it can still be embarrassing. This disorder normally happens with other sleep disorders. Interesting enough it is known to follow in family blood lines. It is thought that half of all kids talk in their sleep and less than four percent of adults continue the habit.

Parasomnias are Most Sleep Disorders

Any irregular movement during sleep or character of sleep is given the label of parasomnias. There are two different types: NREM and REM parasomnias. NREM stands for non-rapid eye movement and REM stands for rapid eye movement. These stages are the normal stages of sleep. An average person will experience maybe 4 REM cycles during a night's rest. Some parasomnias for NREM include sleepwalking, sleep terrors, teeth grinding, or RLS. REM parasomnias are a lot more dangerous. During REM sleepers with disorders in this stage can experience complete muscle lose or violently twitch and act out dreams.

Nocturnal Myoclonus is Different than RLS

Nocturnal Myoclonus is considered periodic limb movement disorder. This means that the person with the disorder has a movement in either their arm or leg during sleep. Sometimes it can be a small movement with the ankle or a huge twitch from the hip. They can last as long as 5 seconds and even happen every 5 seconds. It can create insomniacs and is active in maybe 4% of all adults. How is it treated? Medications can slow or all together rid the jerking. These medications include dextropropoxyphene and clonazepam. Your doctor can recommend the proper treatment for your symptoms.

The Fear of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

By definition alone, obstructive sleep apnea is breathless sleep. Naturally sleeping without breathing is obstructive in several definitions. So what causes OSA? Well in simple explanation a person's muscles relax during sleep; including those in a person's throat. People that have OSA happen to have muscles that relax too much and their airway fails. Sometimes a person will wake violently when this happens or ever so slightly that simply causes a disruption in their sleep pattern. If severe enough a victim of OSA could have a hard time resting and become ill due to the lack of sleep they are receiving.

Jet Lag is a Sleeping Disorder

Some people, like me, don't even consider jet lag a sleeping disorder. Yes it changes your sleep pattern for a night or two but isn't it expected? You can't change time zones and expect your internal clock to be able to switch with you. However jet lag is considered a sleeping disorder. It may only be a disorder for several nights but it is still a disorder none-the-less. Some people that travel all the time have to deal with this pattern constantly. When you live your life jumping time zones too many times on a regular basis your body will develop some terrible habits.