Sleep Medicine Specialist on Long Island

What Are Common Neurological Sleeping Disorders?

Sleeping disorders can affect every aspect of your life if not properly treated. Sleep is very important for our bodies, and if you have issues falling asleep or staying asleep, it can lead to an array of health issues. Seeking out help from our sleep medicine specialist on Long Island could be very beneficial for you. Our doctor is aware of the common causes of neurological sleeping disorders and can help treat your sleeping issues. There are many common sleeping disorders people suffer from. The three most common sleeping disorders are insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy.

Insomnia is very common, and it could make it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or may cause you to wake up and not be able to fall back to sleep. Many people could either experience short-term insomnia, which typically only lasts from days to a few weeks. In contrast, people experience long term insomnia that may last for months or more. This could be due to stress or other medical conditions someone may have. A few insomnia symptoms are difficulty going to sleep, waking up in the middle of the night, not feeling well-rested after a full night’s sleep, daytime tiredness, irritability, depression, and anxiety. It is important to see a doctor when it is hard for you to function during your everyday life. Insomnia can lead to a variety of health problems, so it’s important to find a capable sleep medicine specialist on Long Island to help you.

Sleep apnea is a disorder where breathing stops and starts. Normally, if someone snores loudly and feels tired after a full night’s sleep, they most likely have this disorder. There are three main types of sleep apnea; Obstructive sleep apnea, which is the most common and occurs when the throat muscles unwind—central sleep apnea, which is when your brain does not send signals to your muscles to control breathing. Lastly, complex sleep apnea syndrome occurs when someone has obstructive and central sleep apnea. Some sleep apnea symptoms are loud snoring, stop breathing in the night, gasping for air, morning headaches, hard to stay asleep, insomnia, hypersomnia, hard to pay attention, and irritability. It is important to see a specialist avoid heart and other complications.

Narcolepsy is very common for people who suffer from sleep. This is a chronic disorder that consists of extreme hypersomnia and the need to sleep a lot. Many people with this find it difficult to stay awake for a while. Some symptoms include extreme daytime tiredness, so when you wake up, you may feel refreshed but then get tired again, and sudden loss of muscle tone. This could cause several physical changes like slurred speech, change in emotions, normally positive emotions. If you laugh, your head may fall, and your knees may lock. Sleep paralysis is common with narcolepsy. For a brief moment, they often experience the inability to move or talk while being asleep or waking up—changes in rapid eye movement sleep (REM). REM happens during any time of the day and usually happens 15 minutes into falling asleep.

Lastly, hallucinations may occur. These types of hallucinations are called hypnagogic hallucinations. These usually appear as you are falling asleep. It is important to see a sleep medicine specialist on Long Island if you have any of these sleep disorders because not only could they affect your everyday life, but they also affect your body physically and mentally.

What Can Cause Neurological Sleeping Disorders?

There could be many factors as to why people suffer from sleeping disorders. Such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, epilepsy, neuromuscular disorders, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, stress, or trauma. Sleep disorders can be as simple as just not sleeping or staying asleep, to much more of a bigger issue such as underlying diseases. Chronic stress can also cause insomnia and hypersomnia. 

People who suffer from heartburn, diabetes, heart disease, musculoskeletal disorders, kidney disease, respiratory issues, and thyroid disease often experience sleeping disorders, affecting their everyday lives. Sleep is essential for the human brain, and many reasons could interfere with the brain’s sleep function, which causes a disturbance to normal patterns. The neurologic sleep disorders include central sleep apnea, central nervous system hypersomnia, narcolepsy, parasomnias, and REM. The most commonly treated sleep disorder is sleep apnea, the risk for stroke, cognitive impairment, and poor seizure control.

Whatever may be causing your sleep issues, our sleep medicine specialist on Long Island is here to help you properly diagnose and treat your sleep disorder. If you have questions or just want to schedule an appointment with our neurologist, contact our office at 1-631-751-0790 or visit our website.

The Importance of Sleep

Sleep is very important, and the less sleep you get, the more weight you may gain. People who tend to get very little sleep are more susceptible to obesity. Sleep patterns and obesity is not a perfect science, but there have been studies that have linked sleep deprivation and obesity. Lack of sleep tends to affect a person’s everyday lifestyle, such as eating and moving around. Sleep is also crucial because it has several links to everyday brain functions such as concentration, productivity, and cognition. Children’s sleep is extremely important because it has an impact on their academics. Adults should get at least seven to nine hours of sleep a night. When a person gets sick, sleep is a way to heal the body. Other benefits of sleep include better performance, energy, coordination, speed, and focus better.

Sleep also reduces your risk of heart disease. Getting enough sleep each night allows your body to regulate blood pressure. Overall, sleep helps improve your body’s health. Especially mental health such as depression. The less sleep you receive, the more you are susceptible you are to depression. The more rest you get, the stronger your immune system gets. Sleep helps repair and recover your body and could help fight off infection. According to the CDC, newborns should get 14-17 hours, infants 12-16, toddlers 11-14, preschool 10-13, children 9-12, teens 8-10, adults 7-9 hours. Some things you could do to help your sleep schedule are avoiding naps, going to bed at the same time every night, and being active during the day. Sleep is important because it helps a person function in their everyday life, helps mobility, academics, and health.

Sleep is a crucial part of your overall health, so you must contact our sleep medicine specialist on Long Island once you begin to experience issues falling asleep. We can identify sleep disorders and provide a comprehensive treatment plan. Contact us today to learn all the ways we can help you.

Treating Sleeping Disorders

There are a few ways to treat sleeping disorders such as seeing a psychiatrist, taking medications, and continuous positive airway pressure, a machine used to treat people with sleep apnea. There are many different ways to treat sleep disorders, but it will depend on the type of disorder you have. The way the continuous positive airway pressure works is the patient wears a mask while the machine forces air into the airways to keep them accessible. Others get surgery that reduces the tissue that may be blocking the airways. This can also be controlled simply by diet and exercise. 

Sleeping medications may be difficult because although they work for most people, for others, it may negatively affect their sleep cycle. Lastly, there is always cognitive therapy; one of the most effective treatments a person can undertake. Depression and anxiety can impact sleep, and dealing with this could improve your sleeping pattern. This cognitive-behavioral therapy can teach you to put your mind in a relaxed state while falling asleep. As you release these habits, the better sleep you get. This teaches people how to deal with their sleeping disorders.

If you are suffering from a neurological sleeping disorder and want to get a good night’s sleep again, contact our Sleep medicine specialist on Long Island. Dr. Bruno is an experienced and knowledgeable neurologist who specializes in sleep disorders. Don’t hesitate to contact our office and schedule an appointment.

Insomnia & Difficulty Sleeping

One of the most common sleep disorders that are often reported by our patients is Insomnia. If you have experienced difficulty in falling or staying asleep, then you know how debilitating this condition can be for sufferers. Fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and changes in mood are all common symptoms of this condition. Insomnia can be frustrating, exhausting, and affect all areas of your life. At Three Village Neurology, a sleep medicine specialist on Long Island, we seek to understand your sleep condition and find solutions that can help to reduce or eliminate your symptoms.

Risk Factors for Insomnia

While anyone can develop a sleep disorder at any time, there are a variety of risk factors and causes that can contribute to the development of a sleep disorder. Understanding the cause of your insomnia can also be beneficial in developing a treatment plan that is unique to you and effective. The causes and risk factors for Insomnia can be divided into the categories of medical, psychological, and lifestyle causes.

Medical Causes of Insomnia

• Sinus and Nasal problems, including allergies.
• Gastrointestinal Problems, such as acid reflux.
• Endocrine problems, such as hyperthyroidism.
• Asthma.
• Arthritis.
• Neurological Conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease.
• Chronic Pain.
• Other Brain & Neurological causes.

 

Psychological Causes of Insomnia

• Depression and Major Depressive Disorder.
• Anxiety, including tension, excessive worry, feelings of being overwhelmed, and a general feeling of over overstimulation.

 

Lifestyle Causes of insomnia

• Taking short naps throughout the day can contribute to insomnia.
• Excessive Screen Time before falling asleep.
• “Sleeping-in” to make up for lost sleep.
• Working irregular hours that disrupt your natural sleep schedule, including shift work.
• Consuming stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine can disrupt your sleep, especially if taken in the evening or before bedtime.
• Consuming heavy meals or alcohol late at night can disrupt your body’s ability to engage in deep, restful sleep.

 

Insomnia is a complicated condition with many possible causes and treatments. If your condition is chronic and is not alleviated through lifestyle changes, it may be time to seek the help of a neurologist. A sleep medicine specialist on Long Island, such as Three Village Neurology, specializes in understanding the full extent of your symptoms and providing lasting and effective treatment.

How a Sleep Medicine Specialist on Long Island Can Help

Neurologists can help patients with Insomnia & difficulty sleeping in a number of ways. Neurologists specialize in treating a diseases & disorders of the brain, spinal cord and nervous system, which are all areas that are closely related to many of the key causes of Insomnia. Furthermore, difficulty sleeping and associated health problems can be warning signs of more serious health problems, such as stroke and seizure.If you are suffering from Insomnia, don’t wait to seek treatment. Insomnia can cause a number of problems for your health and daily functioning. We at Three Village Neurology, a sleep medicine specialist on Long Island, will seek to understand, evaluate and treat your sleep problems in a safe and effective manner. Contact us today to learn more about our practice or to book an appointment with our Board Certified Neurology and Sleep Disorder neurologist, Dr. James Bruno.

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