Is your child having a nightmare or a night terror? Learn the difference between the two sleep disruptions and what to do — and not do — to help your child.
Most children will experience a nightmare from time to time — a scary dream that causes them to wake up in the middle of the night. But if you hear a bloodcurdling scream and find your child in a state of panic with a glazed look in their eyes, ...
Continue Reading →Kicking, punching, hitting, grabbing, and leaping out of bed during deep REM sleep may be signs of REM behavior disorder. Learn who gets it and how it is treated.
You expect your dreams to exist only in your mind while your body rests. But for people with REM (rapid eye movement) behavior disorder, dreaming is much more than mental. It’s a physical and sometimes violent event. REM behavior disorder is a sleep disorder characterized by intense physical activity during REM sleep. ...
Continue Reading →Bedwetting during sleep is common in young kids and considered normal up to age 6. Still troubled? Here’s what you need to know.
Bedwetting, also called nocturnal enuresis, is a common condition affecting some five million children in the United States — it’s more common in boys than girls. “Doctors don’t consider children to be ‘bedwetters’ unless they wet the bed at night after age 6,” explains Howard J. Bennett, MD, a pediatrician in Washington, D.C., and author of several health-related ...
Continue Reading →Do you wake in the night and eat? Sleep eating is more common than you think, but it is treatable.
Whether knowingly or unknowingly, people who eat when most of us are sleeping, may have a nocturnal eating disorder or NED. Nocturnal eating disorders affect from 1 percent to 3 percent of the general population and are considered to be both an eating disorder and a sleep disorder.
There are two types of these eating disorders, nocturnal eating syndrome (NES) and ...
Continue Reading →Most children will outgrow sleepwalking and require no treatment for the sleep disorder. But make sure to keep the sleepwalker’s surroundings safe to prevent injury.
Sleepwalking, also called somnambulism, is a sleep disorder that holds a lot of fascination. After all, sleepwalkers can perform everyday activities while they’re asleep and usually will not have any recollection of it the next day. Sleepwalkers may talk, walk, or even drive a car.
Sleepwalking affects roughly 1 percent to 15 percent of the general ...
Continue Reading →Jet lag and travel often go hand in hand, but you can take steps to lessen that jet-lagged feeling. Here’s how.
Most people who travel long distances across time zones experience jet lag, a temporary sleep disorder that occurs when your body’s “biological clock” gets out of whack.
Randall Foster, president and CEO of Vumii, a global security and surveillance company based in Atlanta, knows firsthand what it’s like to be jet-lagged. His work has him crossing multiple time zones ...
Continue Reading →If you can barely wake up in the morning and your bed looks like a battle zone, you may want to ask your doctor about periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD).
It’s bad enough when a sleep condition causes fatigue and disrupted sleep; it’s even worse when that disease starts destroying household linens. Such was the case with a 65-year-old Swiss woman who frequently, and unknowingly, moved her legs while sleeping. In fact, she was so active at night that she rubbed ...
Continue Reading →Possible causes of RLS range from genetics to diet.
Do your legs refuse to stay still at night — so much so that they interfere with your ability to fall and stay asleep? You may be one of the more than 12 million adults in the United States who have restless legs syndrome (RLS), a neurologic sensorimotor disorder that causes bothersome “creepy-crawly” sensations or a sudden urge to move your limbs.
In most cases, the cause of RLS is unknown (referred ...
Continue Reading →If the underlying cause of RLS can be determined, long-term relief is possible.
If you’re one of the 12 million adults in the United States with restless legs syndrome, you know how disruptive the condition can be to both your sleep and your life. Although movement may bring relief for those creepy-crawly sensations, it is generally only temporary. However, RLS can be controlled by finding any possible underlying disorder. Often, treating the associated medical condition, such as peripheral neuropathy or diabetes, ...
Continue Reading →Doctors are becoming more familiar with restless legs syndrome, a common, sleep-robbing condition. Restless legs syndrome symptoms include odd sensations in the legs and a strong urge to move them.
Restless legs syndrome affects more than 12 million Americans, and often requires a much larger vocabulary to describe symptoms than merely the word “restless.”
Even if you’re exhausted and it seems that every part of your body needs a good night’s rest, your legs — and your brain — may be ...
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