Sleep disorders cause many troubling symptoms that can affect one’s mood, energy level, and overall health . Unfortunately, sleep disorders are notoriously underdiagnosed because they often develop gradually over time and have symptoms that are difficult to recognize. Accurate diagnosis is necessary to enable effective treatment for sleep disorders. A sleep study provides valuable insight into the causes of a person’s symptoms including which, if any, sleep disorder is present. Sleep studies ar

Sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing is interrupted during sleep. These pauses in breathing affect sleep quality and can lead to daytime sleepiness and behavior issues in children. The two types of sleep apnea are obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and central sleep apnea (CSA). In OSA, a person tries to breathe but is unable to because of a constricted or blocked airway. In CSA, there is typically a lack of effort to inhale, so a person briefly stops taking breaths. Similar to adults, OSA

This article provides factors to consider before deciding whether to pursue genetic testing for cancer risk.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, and symptoms include a progressive, irreversible loss of memory, thinking, reasoning, and other brain functions. As the disease progresses to later stages, affected individuals eventually become unable to care for themselves independently and require caregiver support, either at home or at a long-term care facility. Alzheimer’s causes sleeping problems that can be disruptive both for the affected patient and for caregivers. People with Al

We spend about two hours per night dreaming. Many people don’t remember their dreams or have only a vague recollection of what took place. However, sometimes, you may wake up with clear memories of your dreams. The content of a vivid dream can cause feelings of joy or comfort. You may even find yourself waking up wishing you could return to the dream. Vivid dreams may be fantastical, leaving you wondering how your brain could have conjured such a strange scenario. Vivid dreams can also be upset

Conventional wisdom used to be that one’s weight is determined purely by nutrition and activity level. However, we now understand body weight to be more than simply a function of behavior. Genetics, socioeconomic status, community environment, stress, and overall health all play a role in one’s weight. Additionally, how well or poorly you sleep can affect weight gain and loss, as sleep loss is one of the risk factors for obesity. A troubling concern for individuals with obesity is that not only

Noise has a major impact on sleep. Exposure to too much noise during sleep has immediate effects while we are sleeping, which leads to short-term issues the next day, and over time may result in long-term mental and physical consequences. Noises at night might wake you up, and a fragmented night’s sleep is less refreshing. Even noises that don’t wake you up have subconscious effects on sleep by changing the time we spend in certain sleep stages. Sleep stages are the different types of sleep we

Each of us possesses an internal clock—also called the circadian rhythm—which controls our natural sleep-wake cycle. Circadian rhythm cues us to feel awake during the day and sleepy at night. Light is the most important external factor affecting readiness for sleep. Before the advent of electricity, humans woke and slept in sync with the rising and setting of the sun, but now lights in our homes, electronics, and light pollution outside have made the relationship between light and sleep much mor

Temperature is an important part of circadian rhythm. Our body temperature undergoes a daily cycle that correlates with sleep-wake patterns. We experience a natural reduction in core body temperature during the hours leading up to bedtime, and this continues after we fall asleep. At the same time, skin temperature increases before and during sleep. Throughout the night, our bodies engage in thermoregulation, which involves physical processes that maintain our body temperature within a narrow ran

Dementia is an irreversible loss of brain function that affects memory, language, problem-solving, and other cognitive processes. There are different types of dementia, all of which tend to affect older adults. Dementia is marked by brain cells not functioning as they should and dying off more quickly than they do in people without dementia. There isn’t a known cure for dementia, but available treatments can slow its progression. Sleep problems are common in individuals with dementia, and sleep

Getting good quality sleep can help you feel like your best self. Healthy sleep patterns improve learning, memory, creativity, and mood. Healthy sleep also strengthens the immune system and makes it easier to maintain a healthy diet. In contrast, if you aren’t getting healthy sleep, you might feel slow, foggy, depressed, and low-energy. Sometimes, it is obvious when you are not sleeping well. In other cases, poor sleep and its adverse effects accumulate gradually, so it’s possible to become acc

Electronic devices have become an integral part of most children’s lives. Kids use screen-based electronics throughout the day for schoolwork, entertainment, communication, and more. While technology offers countless educational and social benefits, there are also downsides to our widespread, easy access to these devices. One concern is the impact technology may be having on sleep. As technology became commonplace in day-to-day life, sleep quality in children suffered. Approximately one third o