9 Surprising Facts About Sleep Disorders

You might only hear about the most common ones like insomnia, but there’s many more where that came from, says Christine Horvat Davey, Ph.D., who studies sleep hygiene and serves as an instructor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, there are six major classifications of sleep disorders: Insomnia; sleep-related breathing disorders; central disorders of hypersomnolence; circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders; parasomnias; and sleep-related movement disorders. Pick your poison!

The statistics don’t lie:50-70 million Americans have a sleep disorder, but while few people would disregard obvious signs of heart attacks or strokes, sleep disorders are more difficult to recognize. Unfortunately, leaving them untreated can do serious damage to your health. “Most people’s symptoms go untreated for months and years. Meanwhile, their physical and mental health, cardiovascular system, and immune function are being affected by poor sleep,” says Weiss. “Sleep is an incredibly important part of our health. We need to give more attention to our sleep quality as a means to maintain good health and quality of life.”

There’s a reason sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture throughout history, and that’s because sleep is an essential function your body can’t do without for too long. “In fact, sleep deprivation could be more harmful than food deprivation,” says Lauri Leadley, CCSH, a certified clinical sleep educator and owner and president of the Valley Sleep Center in Phoenix, AZ. “After several days of sleep deprivation, you’ll be almost completely unable to function, whereas if you were to fast for a week, you might be weak and hungry but otherwise fine.”

If it feels as though more of your female friends and family members complain about sleepless nights more than their male counterparts, it may be becausewomen have a 40% greater risk for insomnia。Data from studies indicates that this is a global issue, and may be caused bychanges in hormones。For instance, women report more problems falling and staying asleep in the days leading up to their period, the third trimester of pregnancy can negatively affect sleep, and perimenopause and menopause can cause night sweats and hot flashes that impact sleep.

So many factors can contribute to a sleep disorder—even seemingly small things, such as a fluctuation in weight or digestive issues. But it’s also important to rule out undiagnosed medical conditions that can exacerbate sleep issues, such as an overactive thyroid and heart disease. On the flip side, insufficient sleep can cause chronic disease, as it’s beenlinked to type 2 diabetes, obesity and depression。For instance, people with insomnia are10 times more likely to have depression, and 17 times more likely to have anxiety。

Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, may impact sleep-controlling regions of the brain, research shows. What’s more, growing evidence shows that poor sleep can fast-track the progression of these diseases. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), for example, may lead to higher risk or earlier onset of dementia. Michigan Medicine’s Sleep Disorders Centers analyzed more than 50,000 older adults who had been diagnosed with OSA (which causes the upper airway to collapse throughout the night) and found those who used positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

But don’t worry, it’s unlikely! There’s an extremely rare genetic disorder called fatal familial insomnia (FFI) that can eventually lead to death. The国家组织罕见疾病notes that the characteristic symptom of FFI is progressive insomnia. This chronic lack of sleep leads to physical and mental deterioration. “This then leads to hallucinations, delirium, and confused mental states, eventually leading into a coma and death,” explains Leadley. Currently, there is no cure for FFI and no standardized treatment protocols. If you’re worried, talk with your doc: But know that your odds of having FFI are less than one in a million.

Blue eyes, curly hair, and an inability to sleep: Turns out, you may be able to add your diagnosis of insomnia to your list of things you blame your parents for. According to a study inMolecular Psychiatry, insomnia may be connected to genetic variations on chromosomes 7 and 9. Likewise, research published in the journalSleeprevealed that, “individuals with current or past insomnia were significantly more likely to report a family history of insomnia than were good sleepers who had never experienced insomnia in the past.”

The name may sound like it’s straight out of a sci-fi flick, but exploding head syndrome is a real thing. “It consists of a loud noise that you imagine hearing just before you fall asleep,” says Leadley. “It might sound like a loud gunshot or a bomb exploding.” The exact cause remains unclear, but the sharp percussion can make drifting off to sleep nearly impossible for some people. If you’ve experienced symptoms such as these, there is a medication that may help.