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A sleepless night can leave you feeling bleary-eyed and tired, but most people quickly recover from a bout of insomnia. However, millions of people suffer from sleep disorders so persistent that their quality of life is compromised and various other medical disorders begin emerging. People who don’t get enough sleep can experience a multitude of physical and mental illnesses. In this article, we’ll talk about sleep disorders and how they can impact your life.

There are over one hundred different types of sleep problems that can be classified into four categories. Insomnia include difficulty falling and staying asleep. Narcolepsy and sleep apnea are examples of sleep disorders that prevent people from staying awake. People suffering from jet lag or those who have trouble sleeping because of shift work are having a disturbance in their sleep/wake cycle. People who experience sleepwalking or enuresis are experiencing sleep interruptions associated with behavioral problems. Any condition in which your sleep doesn’t follow the typical sleep phase cycle or doesn’t stay in each cycle for a sufficient period of time is a disruptive sleep disorder.

Those who have disrupted sleep tend to not experience “restorative sleep.” Sleep deprivation can make you irritable, tired, have less focus, a lower frustration level, and can lead to exhibiting behavior that’s more emotional and impulsive. One dangerous fact about sleeping disorders is that they weaken the immune system and make us more susceptible to other diseases like diabetes, cancer and even the common cold. It is not uncommon for people who suffer from sleep deprivation due to sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy and insomnia to also suffer from other problems including diabetes, asthma or a second sleep disorder.

When gaining insight about sleep disorders, you will find that no one is immune. Many elderly people suffer from insomnia and often have to be put on medication for the condition. Some of the common sleep disorders that affect children include night terrors, nightmares and bedwetting. Nearly seventy percent of women report that they suffer from some type of sleep disorder. Similarly, over forty percent of women admit that daytime sleepiness disrupts their daily activities. Although menopausal and pregnant women are far more likely to suffer from a sleep disorder, women are two times more likely than men to experience a malady of this kind.

Almost everyone suffers from a sleep disorder at some time, but ignoring a persistent problem could result in serious health problems. Recovery may include a lifestyle change or altering your sleep habits. Talk to your doctor about sleep disorders and find out more about the variety of treatments available. A good night of sleep can improve both your health and your quality of life.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Indulging in chocolate during pregnancy could help ward off a serious complication known as preeclampsia, new research suggests.

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is rich in a chemical called theobromine, which stimulates the heart, relaxes smooth muscle and dilates blood vessels, and has been used to treat chest pain, high blood pressure, and hardening of the arteries, Dr. Elizabeth W. Triche of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and colleagues write.

Preeclampsia, in which blood pressure spikes during pregnancy while excess protein is released into the urine, has many features in common with heart disease, the researchers add.

To investigate whether chocolate's possible cardiovascular benefits also might help prevent preeclampsia, the researchers looked at 2,291 women who delivered a single infant, and asked them about how much chocolate they consumed in their first and third trimesters. The researchers also tested levels of theobromine in infants' umbilical cord blood.

Women who consumed the most chocolate and those whose infants had the highest concentration of theobromine in their cord blood were the least likely to develop preeclampsia. Women in the highest quarter for cord blood theobromine were 69 percent less likely to develop the complication than those in the lowest quarter.

Women who ate five or more servings of chocolate each week in their third trimester of pregnancy were 40 percent less likely to develop preeclampsia than those who ate chocolate less than once a week.

A similar, but weaker, relationship between chocolate consumption and preeclampsia risk was seen in the first trimester, with women eating five or more servings of chocolate each week at 19 percent lower risk than those who ate chocolate less than once a week.

Theobromine could improve circulation within the placenta while blocking oxidative stress, or it could also be a stand-in for other beneficial chemicals found in chocolate, Triche and her team note in the May issue of Epidemiology.

"Our results raise the possibility that chocolate consumption by pregnant women may reduce the occurrence of preeclampsia," they write. "Because of the importance of preeclampsia as a major complication of pregnancy, replication of these results in other large prospective studies with a detailed assessment of chocolate consumption is warranted."

SOURCE: Epidemiology, May 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Homemade devices to help children take inhaled asthma medication more easily may be just as effective as the commercial versions, according to a new review of all existing studies comparing them.

But the commercial type should remain the first choice if they are available, the study's authors say, given the limitations of research to date.

Called spacers, the devices make it easier for children to coordinate inhalation with the release of beta 2-agonist medication, which is used to treat asthma attacks. Spacers also allow for more of the drug to be delivered to the lungs and less to wind up in the mouth and throat, thus reducing side effects.

But commercially produced spacers can cost up to $45 and are often not covered by insurance, one of the review's authors, Dr. Carlos Rodriguez of Clinica Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia, told Reuters Health via e-mail. So in the developing world, spacers made from materials ranging from plastic bottles or plastic zip-up bags to paper and polystyrene cups are widely used, he added.

Writing for the Cochrane Collaboration, a non-profit group that publishes systematic reviews of different types of therapy, Rodriguez and his team searched the medical literature and found six studies including 658 patients that compared home-made spacers with commercial spacers for treating asthma attacks or lower airway obstruction. The studies were conducted in India, South Africa, Brazil and the Philippines.

The researchers found no difference in the effectiveness of commercial versus homemade spacers. But because there were relatively few studies, including a small number of events in which patients actually used the devices, "we consider that the results of this review should be interpreted with caution," Rodriguez said. "They need confirmation through further, larger trials. In the meanwhile, selection of the spacer device for an individual patient should begin with a commercial spacer, with home-made spacers being used if a commercial device is not available."

SOURCE: The Cochrane Library, April 15, 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many African-American women may overestimate the number of cancer screening tests they have had, potentially putting them at risk of late cancer detection, a small study suggests.

Researchers at the American Cancer Society found that among 116 black women they interviewed about their cancer screening history, there were generally large discrepancies between the women's memories and their medical records.

In most of these cases, women remembered having a test that, based on the records, was not done, the researchers report in the journal Oncology Nursing Forum.

For example, 86 percent of those who were age 20 or older said they had had a clinical breast exam at some point in their lives, while 67 percent said they'd had one in the past year. According to their medical records, however, only 35 percent had ever had a clinical breast exam, and 26 percent had had one in the past year.

Experts recommend that women in their 20s and 30s have a clinical breast exam to search for lumps every 3 years; women older than 40 should have one annually.

Similarly, the study found, women reported higher rates of screening mammography, Pap tests for cervical cancer, and fecal occult blood tests (FOBTs) for colon cancer than their medical records showed.

In general, estimates of Americans' cancer screening rates are based on self-reports. The current findings suggest that the true rates may be lower than those estimates, especially among African-American women.

"Self-reported screening rates are the foundation for many policy decisions that have a significant influence on the availability of resources for this population," lead researcher Dr. Barbara D. Powe said in a statement.

"Indeed," she added, "over- or underestimation of screening can be even more significant for African Americans, who bear a disproportionate cancer burden."

Compared with whites, African Americans have higher death rates from breast cancer, cervical cancer and colon cancer. Lower screening rates, which lessen the chance of early cancer detection, are believed to be an important reason.

Among women older than 40, the age at which routine mammography should normally begin, 77 reported ever having had a mammogram, while 29 percent said they'd had one in the past year. The actual rates, according to their medical records, were 40 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Nearly all of the women said they had had a Pap test at some point in their lives, but medical records showed that only 58 percent had.

Among women older than 50, the age at which colon cancer screening should begin, 56 percent said they'd had an FOBT at least once before, while the rate based on medical records was just 11 percent.

It's possible that in some cases, the women did have tests that were not documented on their records, according to Powe's team. But the findings highlight a need to close the gap between women's estimates of their screening history and their actual rates, the researchers say.

Health centers could help by developing better "patient reminder systems," they note, and by giving patients written summaries of the tests and procedures they have at each office visit.

SOURCE: Oncology Nursing Forum, March 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who have ever used alendronate, also known by the trade name Fosamax, may have an increased risk of atrial fibrillation, according to findings from a new study. However, the overall risk is low and is likely outweighed by the benefits of fracture prevention in patients with osteoporosis if they have no other risk factors for atrial fibrillation, the investigators conclude.

The unexpected finding of an increased risk of serious atrial fibrillation associated with the use of this class of drugs, called bisphosphonates, was found in two clinical trials, Dr. Susan R. Heckbert and associates note. To see if alendronate increases the risk of atrial fibrillation in a clinical practice setting, as opposed to a trial, the researchers analyzed data from patients in the Atrial Fibrillation Study being conducted at Group Health, an integrated health care delivery system in Washington State.

Alendronate is used to treat or prevent osteoporosis, a disease that causes the bones to become porous and to break easily, in women who have undergone menopause or individuals who are at risk for osteoporosis for other reasons, such as those who take steroids regularly.

Heckbert, at the University of Washington in Seattle, and her team identified 719 women with atrial fibrillation diagnosed between 2001 and 2004, and randomly selected 966 matched "control" subjects without atrial fibrillation also enrolled in Group Health. Most subjects were in their 70s.

Atrial fibrillation occurs when the electrical signal to the heart becomes disordered and the two upper chambers, the "atria," to contract rapidly and irregularly. This keeps the heart from efficiently pumping blood and may cause chest pain, stroke, heart attack or heart failure. The condition can occur rarely, frequently or persistently, and can last for years.

The researchers found that more atrial fibrillation patients than controls had ever used alendronate -- 6.5 percent vs 4.1 percent. The subjects who had ever taken alendronate had an 86 percent increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation compared with those who never used a bisphosphonate.

The risk of developing sustained atrial fibrillation was nearly six-times higher compared with transitory or intermittent atrial fibrillation, for which the risk was significantly lower.

Atrial fibrillation was not associated with cumulative alendronate dose or interval since the first prescription of alendronate. The authors estimate that 3 percent of the atrial fibrillation in this patient population might be explained by alendronate use.

Heckbert and her associates conclude that "it is important to carefully weigh the benefits against the possible risk of atrial fibrillation in women who have only modestly increased fracture risk and in women who have risk factors for atrial fibrillation, such as diabetes mellitus, coronary disease, or heart failure."

SOURCE: Archive of Internal Medicine, April 28, 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.