Sleep_Disorder

Sleep Not a lot of people understand what happens to their body while they are asleep. Many of us have been told that while we rest, our body rejuvenates and prepares us for the next day. True, however, that isn't all. REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) is a natural occurrence during the sleep cycle. It is defined as a time period during sleep when your eyes move around rapidly under closed eye lids, usually during nightmares or active dreams, and your mind is very alert, almost similar to when you are awake Symptoms include irregular breathing, high blood pressure, and slight paralysis. REM represents the fifth stage during the sleep cycle ( sleep cycle explained later) and usually accounts for 20-25% of the sleep period, depending on how long a sleep period is. Up until the 1950s, people thought sleep was a dormant, inactive part of life. Since then, researchers have made great strides in understanding the sleep pattern. They are two kinds of sleep and five distinct stages of sleep. The two kinds are REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement), and NREM sleep (Non-rapid Eye Movement). During the sleep cycle, there are five phases of sleep. Stage 1: light sleep, Stage 2: eye movement stops, Stage 3 and 4: deep sleep, and Stage 5: REM sleep REM can also be associated with a neurodegenerative disorder called RBD (Rem sleep Behavior Disorder) symptoms include incomplete or absent paralysis (meaning, during sleep, your body can still move as if awake), dream enacting, volatile movement such as talking, hitting, kicking, etc. and occurs mostly with middle-aged, and elderly people, usually men. Another neurodegenerative disorder associated with sleep is called Narcolepsy. It is a sleep disorder characterized primarily by persistent and excessive daytime sleepiness Symptoms include EDS, cataplexy, which is sudden, brief loss of muscle control, hynagogic hallucinations, which has access to all 5 senses therefore making them very vivid and realistic, sleep paralysis, disrupted nighttime sleep, and conscious awareness. Narcolepsy is frequently misdiagnosed as fatigue, depression or some other form of mental illness. It usually begins in teen years or early twenties, it is incurable, though never fatal. However, symptoms may result in fatal accidents. For example, Narcoleptic people are unable to drive simply because of their uncontrollable urge to fall asleep during any time.