Did you know that there are more than 100 different types of sleep disorders? At Advanced Sleep Medicine, we understand how hard life can be when you don’t get enough shut-eye. Today, we’re going to compare two of the more common types of sleep disorders: insomnia and sleep apnea
Sleep Apnea
- Definition- When your sleep is interrupted because you stop breathing.
- Cause- The causes can vary, depending on if you have Central or Obstructive Sleep Apnea. In Obstructive Sleep Apnea, a part of your soft palate collapses, blocking your airway. In Central Sleep Apnea, your brain doesn’t send the proper signals to the muscles that control your breathing.
- Symptoms: Loud snoring, choking or gasping in your sleep, daytime drowsiness, depression and issues with weight gain.
- Treatment: The most common way to treat sleep apnea is through Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, or CPAP. Other options can also include surgery or weight loss.
Insomnia
- Definition—When you cannot fall asleep, or you wake up a couple of hours after falling asleep and cannot go back to sleep.
- Cause—A variety of things can cause insomnia, including anxiety disorders, depression, stress, thyroid dysfunction, hormonal changes and other physical causes. Sometimes, lifestyle choices can affect insomnia, including alcohol and tobacco use.
- Symptoms—Laying awake in bed and unable to fall asleep, no matter how tired you are.
- Treatment: Treatments can vary according to cause. Sometimes, a drug can be prescribed for mental or physical causes. Other times, lifestyle changes will need to be made in order to address it.
If you’re not getting adequate rest at night, don’t hesitate to reach out to the experts at Advanced Sleep Medicine! We can conduct a sleep test on you to discover what it is that’s robbing you of a good night’s rest. Our many locations also include equipment and supplies to address some of the issues you may be having.
English 
Armenian 
Chinese 
Korean 
Spanish