D
r . Shahira Fathi Loza received her MB BCh from Cairo University Medical School in 1979 and started basic training in Psychiatry at the Behman Hospital after graduating . During this time she received her Diploma in Psychiatry and Neurology . In 1996 her interest in Sleep Medicine led her to further her studies at the Cleveland Clinic , Ohio and Stanford , California . In 1997 she successfully completed the course of Sleep Medicine at Stanford School of Sleep Medicine and received the Diploma of Sleep Medicine from French University , Montpellier , France . Currently , Dr . Loza holds the position of Director of the Cairo Center for Sleep Disorders and the Neurophysiology unit at the Behman Hospital .
CWM : An increasing number of people seem to be experiencing sleep disorders , what do you attribute this to ?
SL : Recently , a lot of this can be attributed to the invasion of technology and change of our lifestyles . People often have to work varying shifts , suffer jet-lag from high levels of travel , and of course , our growing addiction to computers , Internet surfing , and television . These stimulate our senses , especially late at night when our bodies should be winding down . We also have anxiety and stress , but these have always been issues to contend with .
How would you classify and describe the main types of sleep disorders ?
Although this is a relatively new speciality , there are actually 84 various disorders that have been identified . The main characteristics are defined as sleeping too little ( insomnia ), sleeping too much ( hypersomnia ), or experiencing disturbances and abnormal activity like sleepwalking .
24 hrs ). The Circadian rhythm , present in humans and most other animals , is an internal clock that is synchronized to light-dark cycles and other cues in an organism ’ s environment . This internal clock accounts for waking up at the same time every day even without an alarm clock . It is important to note that Circadian rhythms can be disrupted by external causes such as jet lag or working night shifts and physiological causes such as age related rhythm disorders .
Strange things that can occur during sleep are called ‘ parasomnias ’ of which somnambulism , or sleepwalking and nightmares are the most common . The first occurs during deep sleep , the latter occurs during Rapid Eye Movement sleep ( REM sleep ) of the sleep cycle , and a person can actually carry out quite normal routine activities . Sleep walking episodes can range from around a minute up to half an hour or more , and the sleepwalker rarely has any memory of what happened . It tends to be more prevalent in children , but decreases with entry into adolescence . It is important to keep any objects that could cause harm well locked away if you have a child with this condition . As sleep deprivation can exacerbate this it is important to ensure that the sufferer gets enough quality rest . Nightmares are usually associated with psychological problems .
Allowing too much light in your surroundings when you need to get to sleep is another factor in creating insomnia . Hypersomnia , or excessive sleeping , is a condition that presents another set of problems , the inability to stay awake during normal waking hours can be dangerous , especially when driving or using machinery , apart from the general inconvenience of dropping off unexpectedly .
What causes the various sleep disorders ?
Though most causes of insomnia are due to psychological causes , 90 % of excessive sleepiness is caused by organic or medical problems . The most common are sleep related breathing disorders , Obstructive Sleep Apnea , where the patient has respiratory pauses lasting for 10 seconds or longer followed by loud snoring . The cause is a mechanical obstruction in the upper airway that only occurs during sleep . Typically , patients are unaware of these pauses and snoring , symptoms reported are excessive daytime sleepiness , irritability , and associated hypertension among others .
There can also be a disturbance to the natural Circadian rhythm , ( Circa = approximate , dian =
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