Periodic limb movement disorder

When I read this week’s assignment for the 2 page paper, I was really excited. From the website given I chose sleep disorders and restless leg syndrome as my two topics. I chose sleep disorders, because it has always interested me. I chose restless leg syndrome, because my dad has it. He suffers from it almost every night. I would love to learn more about it to be able to help him. There are many common sleep disorders. Most of them can be caused by stress, physical health, emotional health, physical discomfort, and uncomfortable sleeping environment. As I read these, I was thinking “Well all of these can be fixed,” but it’s not that easy. These can get so bad that they are constantly there. These disrupt the sleep cycle. Before this I had never learned about the sleep cycle, so it was good to read about it. There are 5 stages to the sleep cycle and each of them is important. Stages 1 and 2 are light sleep. In my mind, it’s like a nap. Stages 3 and 4 are deep sleep. This is when it is hard to wake up. The last stage is called REM ( rapid eye movement). This is the most important stage. I like this stage, because this is when the most vivid dreams happen. The sleep cycle is…

Periodic Limb Movement Disorder Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD), also known as nocturnal myoclonus, is a sleeping disorder in which those who are affected by PLMD experience will involuntarily move their limbs during sleep, and rarely while awake. This can include both legs and arms. There is a wide range of those at risk, and is more likely to occur with age. PLMD is often confused with Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), although though to be the same each has its own characteristics that…

Restless Leg Syndrome Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis-Ekbom disease, is a neurological movement disorder that occurs at any age, even in childhood but is generally an aging related issue (Feuz). People with RLS normally feel uncomfortable sensations, more so when sitting or lying down and have to move about for relief. RLS not only causes discomfort but also can affect sleep causing mood changes and daytime sleepiness (Harvard Medical School). Although RLS has been around for…

However, the dream that individuals have occur during the rapid eye movement sleep where we think and see different things in our mind. Furthermore, in the non-rapid eye movement sleep each stage can last up to five to fifteen minutes. In stage one, even though the eyes of a person is closed it is easy for the person to wake up. Stage two, the person is in light sleep where your heart rate and temperature goes down where your body starts preparing itself for deep sleep. Stage three, it becomes…

this issue to “sleep architecture” a pattern of sleep that shifts between NREM and REM. Our sleep cycle is repeated several times a night, and as you get you tend to spend more time in the lighter stages of sleep cycle rather than falling into a deep sleep (Vitiello, 2009). Another change that older adults that affected their sleep patterns are the circadian rhythms, with age your natural biological clock tends to make you sleeper in the early in the evening and wake you up earlier in the…

become known as a sleep disorder although it affects each person through the wakeful hours of the day. Symptoms that affect people with narcolepsy are excessive daytime sleepiness, disrupted night time sleep and when those affected fall asleep during the day, they experience sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations. Not every person who is diagnosed with narcolepsy experiences it with cataplexy. Cataplexy is a loss of skeletal muscle tone that causes people to lose function and can cause…

small, fast brain waves. Stage 4 only produces delta waves. Stages 3 and 4 are so similar that in 2008 they were put into one stage. Together they are deep sleep (Sleepdex). It is very hard to wake a person in deep sleep and if they are awakened they feel disoriented for several minutes. In this stage, our eyes and muscles have no activity and kids experience bedwetting, sleepwalking, and night terrors (American Sleep Association). Finally, REM sleep occurs. In this stage, “breathing…

irregular sleeping patterns and what they can do to you in the short and long run. So I ask you, are the sleeping patterns of college students affecting them? Yes, college student’s sleep patterns are negatively affecting them in many areas of their lifestyle. There is a standard amount of sleep one college student should have during the night, and most of them don’t achieve this due to many factors related to the college lifestyle. Due to irregular sleep patterns, negative changes occur in…

Many people suffer from sleep deprivation because of their circumstances in life, their busy jobs. Caregiving can also lead to sleep deprivation. Parents with newborns or young children are often sleep deprived. Teens and adolescents are commonly sleep deprived because of school work, a job, or their social life. Teens, who are going through hormonal changes, can also have a later sleeping schedule, which can lead to sleep deprivation (Gale Encyclopedia). Anxiety and sleep apnea are two…

sleep apnea. These conditions are due to excessive stimulation of the brain. The most common condition among these is insomnia. This condition is as a result of lack of sleep. Parasomnia entails various weird movements when one is asleep. This disorder occurs when one is partially asleep, partially awake. They include sleep talking, sleep walking, night terrors, teeth grinding, and sleep sex. Nocturnal myoclonus is a situation whereby one moves their limbs involuntarily when they are asleep. It…