Sleep Apnea - Medical Conditions That Causes Secondary Sleep Disorders

Some medical conditions can actually cause secondary sleep disorders. Aside from that, prescription medications used to treat your underlying medical conditions will cause you to develop secondary sleeping disorders. Such medical conditions would include gastroesophageal reflux disease, endocrine problems, cardiovascular diseases, kidney disorders, neurological problems and mental disorders, bone and joint problems such as arthritis, and respiratory problems.

Problems in the cardiovascular system can lead to sleeping disorders. These cardiovascular diseases would include congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease. In coronary artery disease, fat deposits accumulate in the walls of the blood vessels. These fat deposits are called as atheromas; thus, the condition being called as atherosclerosis. This condition would cause impeded blood circulation which leads to coronary artery disease. This condition would often lead to sleeping disorders such as sleep apnea. As for congestive heart failure, the patient's heart is congested due to its inability to supply the requirements needed by the body; therefore, the heart's workload is increased making it congested. Organs such as the kidney and the lungs are also greatly affected. Because of these conditions, the patient has a greater risk of developing sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea.

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Endocrine disorders such as thyroid gland problems and diabetes may also cause secondary sleeping disorders. In general, Diabetes can be considered as a multisystem disorder because it has a big impact on different body processes. Such processes would include metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Usually, restless leg syndrome is the sleeping disorder that occurs in people with diabetes. On the other hand, the thyroid gland is responsible for regulating the hormones that affect the level of energy in a person. Once the thyroid gland function is disrupted, major problems will likely occur. If there is an excessive secretion of hormones by the thyroid gland, the person would have episodes of waking up in the wee hours due to night sweats and will also have sleeping difficulties.

Sleep Apnea - Medical Conditions That Causes Secondary Sleep Disorders

Aside from endocrine disorders, problems in the neurologic system can also lead to development of secondary sleeping disorders. Such neurologic problems would include epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and Parkinson's disease. Dementia and normal functioning is common among people with Alzheimer's disease. Sleep fragmentation can also occur among people with Alzheimer's disease. On the other hand, epilepsy is caused by electrical activities in the brain. Epileptic patients are at a greater risk to develop sleep disorder insomnia. As for Parkinson's disease, it is a dysfunction in the central nervous system. People with Parkinson's disease have motor problems and usually they suffer from tremors, muscle stiffness, posture problems, shuffling gait, and other normal activities. Aside from these motor problems, people with Parkinson's disease are also predisposed to REM sleep behavior disorder and sleep onset insomnia.

Those who have respiratory problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma are also predisposed to various sleeping disorders. Asthmatic patients have difficulties in breathing due to increased mucus production that causes airway obstruction as well as constriction and inflammation of the airway passages. Damage in the lungs that leads to difficulty in breathing is present in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The most common sleeping disorder that these people develop are sleep fragmentation and often times, insomnia.

Mental problems such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, and seasonal affective disorders are also prone to develop sleeping problems. These sleeping disorders would include sleep fragmentation and insomnia.

A condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is present among people who frequently experience acid reflux. Usually, the food that was previously ingested would regurgitate causing damage to the mucosal linings of the esophagus. For GERD, sleep fragmentation is likely to happen.

Problems in kidney functioning is troublesome because waste products are not eliminated. There will also be imbalances in the salt levels and water levels leading to serious problems like edema. Restless leg syndrome and insomnia are common among these people.

It is very evident that people with bone and joint problems are suffering from insomnia due to the fact that they are experiencing pain. An example of joint problem would be arthritis.

Secondary sleeping disorder is the term that is used to describe people who have sleep disorders caused by underlying medical conditions. When this happens, the best way would be to treat the medical condition first prior to treating the sleeping disorder itself.

Sleep Apnea - Medical Conditions That Causes Secondary Sleep Disorders

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7 Causes of Constant Fatigue and Excessive Tiredness

The general view from doctors is that the single biggest complaint they hear from patients is a feeling of constant fatigue. For some the trouble is simply not making sleep a priority... burning the candle at both ends for too long. Your doctor will tell you that continually getting 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night is going to catch up with you... at any age.

If you're getting the recommended, research supported 7 to 9 hours a night fairly regularly, and you're still tired, it's time to see your doctor to find out the causes of constant fatigue. While it could be the first sign of a more serious illness, most often the excessive tiredness is a more straightforward medical issue that has an easy fix.

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Here are seven sometimes overlooked causes of fatigue for you to consider and discuss with your doctor.

7 Causes of Constant Fatigue and Excessive Tiredness

1) Anemia. A woman in her reproductive years, especially if you have heavy periods, have recently given birth or have uterine polyps or fibroid tumors can lose enough blood to bring on anemia. This is one of the leading causes of fatigue in women. Your doctor will order a blood test and if anemia is the cause of your fatigue, you'll be given iron supplements and urged to add natural food sources like spinach, broccoli and red meat to your diet. With treatment, your fatigue should lift in 30 days, or less.

2) Underactive thyroid. If you generally feel sluggish, run down or even a bit depressed, a slow thyroid could be the cause. Known as hypothyroidism, this condition is one of the major health problems of women in the U.S., and may be much more widespread than anyone has realized.

According to the American Thyroid Foundation, by 60 years old, about 17% of women will have a thyroid disorder and not know it. To check, ask for blood tests known as T3 and T4 used to detect thyroid hormones, if they're low, synthetic hormones can be prescribed to bring you back up to speed. You'll start feeling better pretty quickly.

3) Undiagnosed urinary tract infection (UTI). In some instances fatigue can be the only clue of a UTI a woman gets. You might have no other symptoms, or symptoms that are mild enough to go unnoticed.

UTIs are caused by bacteria in the urinary tract that can come from improper wiping (back to front) or sexual intercourse. A urine test will tell and the treatment is simple, involving an oral antibiotic medication. Your fatigue should lift within the week... perhaps sooner. If the symptoms return after being on medication, get tested again - sometimes UTIs can be chronic.

4) Caffeine Overload. For some women, the caffeine that revs most people up does the opposite for them. Caffeine is usually acts as a stimulant, but if you use too much, the opposite can be true - abuse brings fatigue. If you try to solve the problem with yet more caffeine, your fatigue will actually get worse. Your best bet is to eliminate as much caffeine from your diet as you can. Look beyond coffee to chocolate, tea, soda and even some medications.

5) Food intolerance. Hidden food intolerance, even mild ones, can leave you feeling tired. Eat the troublesome food long enough and you could find yourself feeling continually exhausted. Fatigue is sometimes an early warning sign that food intolerance has developed. To find out, start with an elimination diet, cutting out any food that has you feeling sleepy within 10 to 30 minutes of eating it.

6) Sleep apnea. Some people don't realize they're not getting sufficient sleep, and this is particularly true of sleep apnea, a disorder that causes you to stop breathing for a moment, usually many times during the night.

Each time you stop breathing you wake long enough to disrupt the natural sleep cycle. The only clue many patients have is that they experience constant fatigue, no matter how many hours of sleep a night they get.

Women who are overweight or obese are often diagnosed with the condition. Snoring is often another sign; though the definitive diagnosis comes from a visit to a sleep lab, or a physician who specializes in sleep disorders.

If you do have sleep apnea, your doctor will suggest lifestyle changes (stop smoking, lose weight) to help. Left untreated this condition can increase your risk of stroke or heart attack.

7) Undiagnosed heart disease. If you're totally exhausted after doing things that used to be easy... like vacuuming, yard work, even your commute each day, then it's time to talk to your doctor.

Fatigue is usually not the first sign of heart disease and is often the result of something much less serious. However it is an under diagnosed problem in women, even though heart disease is the leading cause of death for females. Medication or treatment can usually correct the problem and restore your energy level.

Our world is a busy one to be sure, but that does not doom us all to excessive tiredness. To always being tired, feeling awful. Whatever are the causes of fatigue in your life... keeping you feeling exhausted and dragging can be treated... all you need do is get the process started.

7 Causes of Constant Fatigue and Excessive Tiredness

FREE Bonus Secret Health Reports - For a limited time you can grab 5 FREE essential health reports from Daily Health Bulletin and click the link now to discover simple steps that can help reduce excessive tiredness and constant fatigue.

Sleep Apnea Causes High Blood Pressure

Sleep apnea is the repeated pausing of breathing while sleeping, so that one or more breaths are missed. A person can have many occurrences a night and in some people, episodes may last for up to minute. At each incident the brain awakens the person for a moment, to make them inhale air again. This cycle of brief awakenings results in disturbed and poor quality rest. Sleep apnea is not the same as snoring, though most people with this condition do snore.

Blood pressure normally falls during sleep. There is a substantial amount of evidence that if there is no fall at night, there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart failure.

\"sleep Apnea\"

One of the side effects of sleep apnea is that blood pressure usually does not fall at night. This means that there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Additionally if left untreated, there is an increased likelihood of having daytime (resting) high blood pressure too.

Sleep Apnea Causes High Blood Pressure

Some estimates are that 50% of long-term sufferers have high blood pressure. It is not clear whether the cause is the repeated shortage of oxygen, caused by missing breaths, or the interrupted and poor quality of sleep. It is probably a combination of both. Studies have shown that continually not getting enough sleep increases the risk of elevated blood pressure. The lack of continual deep sleep due to sleep apnea may have a similar effect.

Those with sleep apnea usually cannot tell that they have this condition, since they are not aware of stopping breathing and the brief awakenings. Consequently, many sufferers do not believe that they have this problem. when others tell them.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute estimates that 18 million people have sleep apnea. This is a large number of people who are at greater risk of increased blood pressure.

There are a number of treatment options for sleep apnea depending on the cause. Sometimes lifestyle changes are sufficient, and can include, not lying on the back, sleeping with head and upper body elevated (such as in a recliner) a reduction in alcohol consumption, reduction in the use of muscle relaxants, quitting smoking and weight loss. There are a number of devices that fit in the mouth that are worn at night. Positive airway pressure devices are available also. A good place to start for more information about the causes and treatment is the American Sleep Apnea Association.

Treatment will decrease the risk of getting high blood pressure. For those who already have high blood pressure, treatment will help stop further increases, and reduce the risk of the consequences such as stroke and heart failure.

Sleep Apnea Causes High Blood Pressure

Judith Airey PhD. is a biomedical researcher with a range of interests including all things cardiovascular. She has several health-related websites including a blood pressure information site http://www.InfoBloodPressure.com and a blog [http://www.lifeagingand.com]

Sleep Apnea Causes High Blood Pressure

Sleep apnea is the repeated pausing of breathing while sleeping, so that one or more breaths are missed. A person can have many occurrences a night and in some people, episodes may last for up to minute. At each incident the brain awakens the person for a moment, to make them inhale air again. This cycle of brief awakenings results in disturbed and poor quality rest. Sleep apnea is not the same as snoring, though most people with this condition do snore.

Blood pressure normally falls during sleep. There is a substantial amount of evidence that if there is no fall at night, there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart failure.

Sleep

One of the side effects of sleep apnea is that blood pressure usually does not fall at night. This means that there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Additionally if left untreated, there is an increased likelihood of having daytime (resting) high blood pressure too.

Some estimates are that 50% of long-term sufferers have high blood pressure. It is not clear whether the cause is the repeated shortage of oxygen, caused by missing breaths, or the interrupted and poor quality of sleep. It is probably a combination of both. Studies have shown that continually not getting enough sleep increases the risk of elevated blood pressure. The lack of continual deep sleep due to sleep apnea may have a similar effect.

Those with sleep apnea usually cannot tell that they have this condition, since they are not aware of stopping breathing and the brief awakenings. Consequently, many sufferers do not believe that they have this problem. when others tell them.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute estimates that 18 million people have sleep apnea. This is a large number of people who are at greater risk of increased blood pressure.

There are a number of treatment options for sleep apnea depending on the cause. Sometimes lifestyle changes are sufficient, and can include, not lying on the back, sleeping with head and upper body elevated (such as in a recliner) a reduction in alcohol consumption, reduction in the use of muscle relaxants, quitting smoking and weight loss. There are a number of devices that fit in the mouth that are worn at night. Positive airway pressure devices are available also. A good place to start for more information about the causes and treatment is the American Sleep Apnea Association.

Treatment will decrease the risk of getting high blood pressure. For those who already have high blood pressure, treatment will help stop further increases, and reduce the risk of the consequences such as stroke and heart failure.

Sleep Apnea Causes High Blood Pressure

Judith Airey PhD. is a biomedical researcher with a range of interests including all things cardiovascular. She has several health-related websites including a blood pressure information site http://www.InfoBloodPressure.com and a blog [http://www.lifeagingand.com]

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Top 4 Causes of Extreme Tiredness

We have all experienced being tired at one point or another- after a hectic day at work, following a vigorous aerobic exercise, after playing a sport. To feel tired after a highly physical activity is normal. But many people experience tiredness even upon waking up in the morning, despite a seemingly long sleep. Are you one of them? Do you often feel a lack of energy for apparently no reason at all? In order to address this problem, the first step is to know what is causing it.

Here are the 4 most common causes of extreme tiredness:

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4th Most Common Cause: Medical Conditions

Many diseases and disorders can trigger fatigue, including the flu, anemia, and sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome. Hormonal problems, heart ailments, and cancer are also known to cause fatigue. Certain medications, especially those used to treat chronic illnesses, also bring about extreme tiredness. The source of one's extreme tiredness can be even harder to trace if one has undiagnosed medical problems. When experiencing abnormal physiological conditions, it is best to see a doctor.

3rd Most Common Cause: Emotional concerns and stress.

Studies suggest that psychological factors are present in at least 50% of fatigue cases. Emotional concerns may include depression, chronic anxiety, emotional stress, and excessive grief, especially that due to loss of a loved one.

2nd Most Common Cause: Workplace issues

This is widespread especially in the working population who juggle their work priorities, family concerns, and social life. Examples of tiredness triggers in the workplace are shift work and poor workplace practices such as working long hours, hard physical labor, irregular working hours (such as rotating shifts), stressful work environment, and even boredom. Social factors at work such as working alone with little or no interaction with others and fixed concentration on a repetitive task are also known culprits. Workplace stress caused by a wide range of factors including job dissatisfaction, heavy workload, conflicts with superiors or colleagues, bullying, constant and unwanted change, and threats to job security are also known culprits. Recently, burnout among workaholics, the result of striving too hard in the work area while neglecting everything else, tends to drain all their energies from other aspects of their lives. Even among the unemployed, financial pressures, feelings of failure or guilt, and the emotional exhaustion of prolonged job hunting can lead to fatigue.

And finally the most common cause of extreme tiredness: Unhealthy lifestyle choices

In the absence of a medical illness, psychological problems, and work-related stress, lifestyle choice is the most prevalent cause of extreme tiredness among all ages. Common lifestyle choices that can cause fatigue include: lack of sleep, too much sleep, intake of alcohol and drugs, sleep disturbances, absence or lack of regular exercise, and poor diet. In some cases, extreme tiredness is caused by a combination of these factors.

Diagnosis can be difficult making treatment even harder. Consequences of extreme tiredness can even be worse. To avoid this plague, it is best that we know the triggers and avoid them at all cost. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Top 4 Causes of Extreme Tiredness

Gerrard Mackenzie is the author of the Special Sleep Report and has taught thousands of the stressed-out, tired and overworked how to overcome their sleeping difficulties and get a better night's rest. He also writes for the website Supercharge Your Sleep. He no longer suffers from extreme tiredness.

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What Causes Lack Of Sleep

This can be a long list. Lack of sleep can come from pressure points, tossing and turning, pain, a sleep disorder, health reasons, medical problems, your partners discomfort, or their health reasons.

Do you have a lot of stress in your life? If so then the easiest way to work on stress relief is with a good exercise program and by learning how to relax and quiet your mind. Maybe a good massage will help you once a week. I found for me I learned how to meditate and I switched to a better mattress.

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Do you know what pressure points are? Not the kind martial artists use to knock out their opponents, but the kind that will keep you awake at night? This is when your hips or shoulders become painful because the coils and springs in a normal mattress push up towards the hips or shoulders. A good mattress will relieve you of this.

What is the Best Mattress for a better sleep?

Well before I get to that I think you need to know that I am no expert when it comes to anything, not mattresses, not what causes your lack of sleep. You really need to see a doctor if this has been chronic for any length of time at all. Now onto the mattress, there is a new mattress out now that has been through some pretty amazing results. Some of these tests have been with people that have severe burns and have been bed ridden for years. This is the only mattress that relieves them of the pain caused by pressure points. And the reason for this is in the design of the mattress. To see the mattress check Edmonton's best mattress.

Meditation for a better sleep

What worked best for me was simply meditating every evening before going to bed. Now I don't mean you have to meditate like a monk, but rather just quiet the mind enough for you to relax. The easiest way to do this is to count backwards from 100-1 for 10 days. Then 50-1 for 10 days, then 25-1 for 10 days and finally 10-1 from that point forward. You might think this is crazy but this is a simple form of meditation that worked for me. At the end of each count down you will tell yourself that you will have a good night sleep and wake up in the morning refreshed and feeling great.

Another method is when you are ready to sleep you imagine in your minds eye that you are standing in front of a chalk board. Draw a circle on the board and place the number 100 in the circle in large numbers touching the edges where you can. Now place in the circle in large letters also touching the circle the word sleep. Now erase the word sleep and the number 100 without erasing the edge of the circle. Now outside of the circle write the word deeper. Now do this all over again. Most nights I can not get past 98, and I have never made it past 85.

The meditation will help you relax and the countdown will help you fall asleep faster.

What Causes Lack Of Sleep

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Kelly Kramer owns a plumbing company and buy and sells real estate, if you liked this article you can learn more at http://www.edmontons-business-directory.com

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