Examining the common causes of sleep disorders

While millions of Americans may be lying awake in bed on any given night, the causes of sleep disorders vary from person to person.

Many sleep disorders are secondary to a variety of medical and mental-health disorders, pain, and even the treatments for these disorders. Medical conditions like diabetes, congestive heart failure, emphysema, stroke, and others may have nighttime symptoms that disturb sleep. Depressive illnesses and anxiety disorders are common causes of sleep disorders, as is the pain from conditions like arthritis, cancer, and acid reflux, to name a few.

Transient insomnia may be triggered by stress, a cold, headache, toothache, bruised muscles, backache, indigestion or itchy rash. It can also be caused by jet travel that involves rapid time-zone change.

Short-term insomnia, lasting up to 3 weeks, may result from anxiety, nervousness and physical and mental tension.
Most often long-term insomnia stems from medical conditions such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, asthma, chronic sinusitis, epilepsy or ulcers. Long-term impaired sleep can also caused by chronic drug or alcohol use, consumption of caffeinated beverages and abuse of sleeping pills.

It's just too early!
Trouble falling asleep, the most common form of sleep disturbance, may be brought on simply by going to bed too early. Sleep cannot be forced. You should not go to sleep until you are sleepy. If you turn in too early -- even if you do fall asleep--you could experience a disturbed night's rest or could wake early without feeling refreshed.

Exercise
Regular exercise tends to benefit sleep, but right at bedtime exercise is one of the common causes of sleep disorders. Vigorous exercise, especially just before sleep, can cause arousal and delay sleep. The best time to exercise is in the afternoon or early evening.

Naps
Laboratory tests have shown that daytime naps are a common cause of sleep disorders. Although many people feel like napping in the late afternoon, most sleep better if they don't nap during the day.

Bedtime Snacks
While hunger may keep some awake, heavy meals, alcohol, and caffeine-containing beverages are all causes of sleep disorders. Since nicotine stimulates the nervous system and can interfere with sleep, smoking is also thought to be a cause of sleep disorders.

Alcohol
The effect of alcohol is deceiving. It may induce sleep, but chances are alcohol consumption will not produce a good night's sleep. The sleeper usually wakes up in the middle of the night when the alcohol's relaxing effect wears off.

Regular Bedtime
The best way to sleep better is to keep a regular schedule for sleeping. Those who suffer from sleep disorders need to go to bed at about the same time every night, but only when tired, and they awaken at the same time every day, regardless of how well they slept the night before. Establishing a regular wakeup time helps solidify the biological rhythms that establish periods of peak efficiency during the 24-hour day.