What is a normal sleep pattern?
Sleep cycle include - light sleep, deep sleep, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which happens several times in the night. Eye moves, muscles twitch, and heartbeat and blood pressure fluctuate. Most dreaming happens during REM sleep.
All of these stages are necessary, and if any one is disrupted, sleep problems can occur. Some examples are:
Sleep apnea - apnea means "not breathing" in Greek. There are about 2 million Americans with this condition. While sleeping, they actually stop breathing because the muscles in the upper airway droop and close it down; then, as carbon dioxide increases in the lungs, the brain alarms the person enough to force a big breathy snore. This can happen several hundred times a night, making sleep restless. One cure is a machine that forces air into the nose. Weight loss may help overweight men who are prone to this disorder.
Narcolepsy - falling asleep without warning. About 300,000 Americans suffer from this condition. The pace of narcoleptics' sleep is speedier. They fall asleep fast, in two minutes, and enter REM sleep within 15 minutes. The solution: strong stimulants.
Working at Night - particularly the graveyard shift, causing disturbances in biological rhythms. It is possible to turn the clock around with light therapy. That is, exposure to intervals of daylight-bright light and daytime darkness can fool your body into turning night into day, as can capsules of melatonin, a brain chemical from the pineal gland.
Parasomnia - including night terrors, sleeping walking, and sleep paralysis. Children who experience these disorders usually outgrow them, but adults may need professional help. Sometimes hypnotherapy helps.