9 ( C) Sleep Disorders

There are many disorders that take place when we sleep.  One such example is called REM sleep disorder. This disorder takes place in the REM stage of sleep. This happens when your muscles do not lock fully and you are not completely paralyzed as you sleep. If you have REM sleep disorder than you act out your dreams. For example, if in your dream you are walking you will start to walk in real life.
Another sleep disorder is called Narcolepsy.  Narcolepsy is when you cannot control when you sleep. A person with Narcolepsy cannot perform everyday jobs such as driving.  A person with Narcolepsy will fall asleep at any time they can fall asleep anytime. Because of this, they cannot do many things.
 
Another sleep disorder that affects people is called Sleep Apnea. Sleep Apnea is when your airflow gets blocked while you sleep. You cannot breathe when you sleep so you wake up. When you wake up it is only momentarily so you do not realize you woke up during the night. However, this cycle of waking and sleeping can cycle about 100 times a night. This leads to less time spent in deeper sleep such as stage 3 sleep. People with sleep apnea can fell tired even after they slept a full night sleep.
 
The last sleep disorder we will talk about is restless leg syndrome. This is when your leg starts felling various types of pain such as crawling, itching, throbbing and pulling.  There is also nighttime leg twitching. This usually starts after being at rest.  Movement can provide relief to restless leg syndrome.  Symptoms of this syndrome typically worsen in the evening and towards bedtime. 


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