Sleep is essential to physical and emotional health. Unhealthy sleep habits and untreated sleep disorders are linked to health problems like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and depression.
Facts About Sleep Disorders
Loss of sleep is believed to contribute to strained relationships at home and unfulfilled potential on the job, and can also be dangerous, leading to serious or even fatal accidents. Consider these facts from the National Sleep Foundation:
- Sleep problems increase with aging.
- Health care expenses and lost productivity from sleep deprivation cost approximately 100 billion dollars a year.
- Drowsy drivers take the blame for at least 100,000 police-reported crashes in the U.S. annually.
- At least 40 million Americans report having sleep difficulties. Sixty percent of adults in the U.S. have never been asked about their sleep quality by a doctor, and 20 percent have never asked their doctors for sleep information.
Common Sleep Disorders
- Insomnia
- Narcolepsy (excessive and overwhelming daytime sleepiness)
- Sleep apnea
- Restless leg syndrome
- Sleep-related leg jerking
- Sleep walking
- Sleep problems due to jet lag or shift work
Treating Sleep Disorders
After your sleep test results have been reviewed by one of our board-certified sleep specialists, your doctor will create a treatment plan customized to your symptoms and diagnosis. There are a wide range of options to treat sleep problems, and your personalized care plan may include one or several approaches. Your treatment may include:
- Lifestyle changes - Examples include establishing a regular sleep schedule, reducing caffeine intake, getting regular physical exercise and making changes to your sleep environment.
- Medications - your doctor may prescribe medicine to improve the quality of your sleep or improve your wakefulness.
- Positive airway pressure (PAP) machine - Sometimes a patient may be experiencing airway obstruction while they sleep. A CPAP machine is a medical device that uses mild air pressure to keep airways open and relieve symptoms of conditions like sleep apnea.
- Dental devices and surgery - In some cases, a dentist that is accredited in sleep medicine can provide an oral appliance to treat some types of obstructive sleep apnea. Also, airway obstruction can sometimes be improved by a surgical procedure.
Call to Schedule
If you have symptoms of a sleep problem, talk with your doctor or call (317) 745-3680 for more information or to make an appointment with a Sleep Specialist.
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