When Sleep Problems are Serious

About 70 million Americans, men and women of every race and socioeconomic class, suffer from a sleep problem. Although sleeping seems simple, the process can actually be quite complicated.

However, the most common causes for lack of sleep are just that-common. They include stress, caffeine, late-night exercise and trying to sleep in a room that is too noisy or bright. This type of sleep disturbance tends to clear up when the cause is eliminated. If it doesn't, it's time to talk with your physician about your sleep problems.

Another factor that can affect sleep is aging. "One of the normal changes that occurs with age is the loss of deep sleep," says Sonia Ancoli-Israel, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and author of All I Want Is a Good Night's Sleep. "Our deeper levels of sleep begin dropping at age 20 and drop substantially in old age."

For example, the time spent in stage one sleep (the lightest level, during which you can easily be awakened) ranges from 5 percent in younger adults to between 12 and 15 percent in the elderly. In extreme old age, stages three and four (the deepest level) may disappear completely.

Our natural sleep schedules also change with age. "Most adults get sleepy at about 10 or 11 at night and need eight hours of sleep. Mature adults get sleepy at 6 or 7 in the evening," Ancoli-Israel says.

The nights-and lives-of millions of Americans are also disrupted by more serious sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, which occurs when breathing stops for up to 10 seconds during sleep, sometimes up to dozens of times an hour. Causes can include obstruction of the upper airway or overly relaxed throat muscles. Over time, this cessation of breathing can cause hypertension, cardiac disease or stroke. Most patients diagnosed with sleep apnea can be cured through the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, while others require surgery.

Other sleep disorders include narcolepsy, which is characterized by an overwhelming need to sleep when you would normally be awake; periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), which causes your legs to jerk one or more times per minute during sleep; and restless legs syndrome (RLS), which causes a crawling, aching sensation in your legs.