Sleep disorders are health conditions that affect a person from time to time. These are caused by several factors ranging from poor habits to medical conditions that disrupt your sleep cycle.

The first symptom of sleep disorder is the feeling of tiredness you may feel in the mornings. While basic sleep disorders can be resolved via exercise or diet improvements, there are several medical reasons that could cause sleep disruption and may require medical attention. Remember that insufficient sleep is often the root cause of several other health issues. Listed below are a few sleep disorders:

1) Insomnia: Most of us have trouble getting to sleep once in a while, but if the problem lingers on, it could indicate insomnia, a condition where patients lie awake for several hours before falling asleep. Some of them make wake up too early and then fail to drift off to sleep. There are others who wake up several times through the night and end up feeling groggy in the morning.

* Solution: Healthcare professionals believe that most cases of insomnia could be a result of poor sleep hygiene, which refers to bad habits that could interfere with our sleep. Cases like drinking coffee in the evening, smoking or eating a heavy supper before going to bed could cause insomnia.

2) Sleep Apnea: This kind of sleep disorder causes patients to stop breathing several times in their sleep. Usually, the breathing pauses for a few seconds and triggers the switch between deep to light sleep. Usually, such interruptions result in sleepiness during the day and more importantly, many patients are not aware of such a disease.

* Solution: An immediate manifestation of sleep apnea is in snoring where the person stops breathing for a few seconds and snorts back into sleep. The disease usually occurs among older males though patients with a history of sinusitis or tonsils could also undergo this condition. It is best to visit the physician and undergo a course of treatment.

3) Restless legs: People who feel a constant ache in the legs due to lack of exercise could cause this syndrome whereby a person experiences discomfort in the legs and tends to move it around while sleeping. The problem occurs mostly during early sleep, thus making it tough to fall into a slumber. The only solution for this lies in exercising and eating a balanced diet.

4) Narcolepsy: Patients suffering from this disease usually find it hard to refrain from taking cat naps during the day, even though they may have had the customary eight hours of sleep at night. Other signs include inability to move instantly upon waking up, losing muscle control and dreaming during naps. Such people usually drift into a rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep without going through the early phases.

5) Sleepwalking: Sleep walking sees the patient get up and walk around the room while still sleeping. These episodes usually occur during the deeper stages of sleep whereby the patient might do several activities without actually waking up. The disease is most common among children but can also trouble adults.