Sleep Conditions That Can Affect Your Health

These two types of sleep apnea have different root causes:

• Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when an upper airway obstruction prevents you from drawing enough air.
• Central sleep apnea happens when there is a mistake in the signals being sent from your brain to your muscles.

Obstructive sleep apnea is the more common of the two.

Symptoms

Symptoms your sleep partner may notice include:

• Snoring
• Gasping

Symptoms you may both notice include:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Irritability
• Trouble focusing
• Weight gain
• Less interest in sex

Complications

If you are not getting the sleep you need, you may be less alert and a danger to yourself and those around you, particularly while driving. If left untreated, the deprivation of oxygen can increase your risk of chronic illness or aggravate existing conditions, including:

• Obesity
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Erectile dysfunction

Restless leg syndrome involves unusual feelings and sensations in one or both legs. Rarely, it may also occur in the arms. These feelings are often associated with a need to move your affected limb, which may temporarily alleviate the symptoms. This sensation and need for movement can make it difficult to fall asleep.

Sleepwalking, sleep eating, night terrors and other unusual activity during sleep are classified as parasomnia. When an episode occurs, you may appear awake to others, even though you are unaware of them and may remember little or nothing of the incident.

Insomnia broadly deals with difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up restless or too early. Narcolepsy causes extreme sleepiness during the day — a symptom known as hypersomnia. Severe narcolepsy can also cause sudden sleep attacks, causing you to suddenly and uncontrollably fall asleep.

Disruptive sleep disorders in children can include acting out dreams, night terrors, restless legs, restless sleep, sleep eating, sleep paralysis and sleepwalking.

Breath-related sleep disorders can begin early, affecting some children and teenagers. These problems include conditions caused by breathing issues, like sleep apnea and snoring.

Sometimes insomnia or excessive sleepiness, like hypersomnia, may present in children and teens. Insomnia relates to difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, leading to poor rest and regular drowsiness during the day. Excessive sleepiness can occur for several reasons but involves experiencing extreme or disruptive sleepiness during the day.