How Sleep Disorders (Insomnia) Can Affect You

Insomnia is the inability to sleep, most especially during the night hours. The physiology of sleep is the Hypothalamus in the central nervous system. Hypothalamus is the seat of control of sleep and wakefulness. For the period of sleeping, our body is under generalized inertia with muscular relaxation. Hypothalamus as pointed is the factor that controls wakefulness and sleep.

The work done by hypothalamus is through the reticular formation which has connection with the thalamus ascending and descending fibres. When adequate amount of sleep has been stored, the reticular formation blocks impulse going to the cerebral cortex as well as those going to the skeletal muscles. This abolishes the neuro-muscular extability resulting in muscles relaxation and sleep.

With sleep consciousness is lost and changes in an individual physiological function occur e.g respiration which becomes deep and more regular, fall in pulse rate and blood pressure, relaxation of the jaw and the throat which bring about snoring, blood flow through the muscles reduce and to the skin increase.

The table below shows the normal daily sleeping period in ages

Age	Newborn baby	2 to 9 years old	10 to 15 years old	16 to 65 years old	65 years and above
Normal Sleeping Hours	13 to 17	6 to 13	10 to 11	6 to 9	6 to 8

Sleep Disorder can affect you in the following ways

Problem in sleeping time
Difficulty staying asleep
Early waking up during the daybreak and inability to get back to sleep at night
Not feeling rested or refreshed when you wake up despite getting enough hours of sleep
Tiredness and sleepy mode during the day
Feeling bad-tempered or nervous
Headaches
Problem in focal point or concentrating during the day
High body temperature

Typically, sleep disorder or insomnia isn't related with serious difficulty. These problems of sleep disorder are most familiar with men, particularly those who are older (middle-aged) or overweight. A person with sleep disorder can take account of poor school performance including poor job.

Factors Responsible For Sleep Disorders