Sleep disorders

Snoring is often a symptom of some type of sleep disordered breathing. The cause of snoring can be very varied, from different maxillofacial and/or mandibular anatomical alterations, as well as hypertrophy of the soft parts of the upper airway (soft palate, tonsils, tongue, uvula, etc.).

There are other factors that also favor snoring independently of our anatomy or muscular dynamics: overweight, smoking, alcoholism, etc.

To find out if it is a social problem of snoring or if it is also associated with apneas, it is necessary to perform a sleep study (polysomnography).

Sleep apnea is the interruption of breathing that occurs moments after falling asleep and is preceded by loud snoring for at least 10 seconds.

Sleep apnea can be caused by a person's physical structure or medical conditions. These include obesity, large tonsils, endocrine disorders, neuromuscular disorders, heart or kidney failure, certain genetic syndromes, and premature birth.

Early detection of the pathology is important. Therefore, a sleep study is required to establish a treatment.

Insomnia is the difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep during the night. It is a very common problem among the population, being more frequent in women, the elderly and people with psychological problems such as anxiety and depression.

Insomnia can be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term).

To diagnose insomnia, your health care provider will consider:

• Your medical history
• Your sleep history. Your provider will ask for details about your sleeping habits
• A physical exam to rule out other medical problems that may cause insomnia
• He or she may recommend a sleep study. It measures how well you sleep and how your body responds to sleep problems

Restless legs syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by the appearance of an uncomfortable, non-painful sensation in the legs that makes it necessary to move them. It is a common and chronic disorder.

The etiology of this disorder is unknown, although cerebral iron deficiency and alterations in dopamine neurotransmission are suggested as possible causes.

Restless legs syndrome can sometimes be diagnosed in the doctor's office by taking the patient's medical history. Some tests can also be very useful for its diagnosis, such as polysomnography to determine if there are periodic leg movements and to evaluate the quality of sleep of patients.

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that produces extreme daytime sleepiness. Other associated symptoms include sleep paralysis (feeling unable to move or speak without loss of consciousness), hypnagogic hallucinations (“lived” dreams, with experiences difficult to distinguish from reality) or fragmented nighttime sleep.

Narcolepsy is a chronic disorder that cannot be cured. However, symptoms can be controlled with medication and lifestyle changes.

Idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) is a sleep disorder in which the person is excessively sleepy (hypersomnia) during the day and has great difficulty waking from sleep.

Excessive sleepiness can be caused by multiple systemic diseases, neurological diseases or diseases of the sleep-wake rhythm control itself.

The cause must be determined in order to establish the most appropriate treatment.

Parasomnias are strange behaviors that occur in relation to sleep, either before the onset of sleep, at the end of sleep or during sleep. In the lightest cases only small incorporations in the bed are observed, they sit up, and go back to bed. In the most violent cases they can take refuge in the sink or another room, they can even fall asleep in another place. They are more frequent in childhood, but also extend to adulthood. Most of these disorders can be diagnosed with a polysomnography and physical examination, being able to be of great help audiovisual material of the episode (recording with mobiles).