Doctors Urge 50 Million Americans to Check Gasping, Snoring and Sleepwalking for Hidden Sleep Disorders
Updated
Updated · HuffPost · Aug 2
Doctors Urge 50 Million Americans to Check Gasping, Snoring and Sleepwalking for Hidden Sleep Disorders
3 articles · Updated · HuffPost · Aug 2
Summary
Medical experts said symptoms such as gasping for air, loud snoring, sleepwalking, chronic nightmares and sudden sleep attacks warrant a doctor visit because they can signal undiagnosed sleep disorders or other medical problems.
50 million to 70 million Americans have sleep-related problems, and doctors said people often misread next-day fatigue, irritability or poor focus as stress or too little caffeine instead of tracing them to nighttime symptoms.
Sleep apnea was cited as a leading cause of gasping and snoring, while Nocturia can point to diabetes, UTIs, enlarged prostate or kidney failure; teeth grinding, sleep talking and sleep-related eating can also reflect stress, medications or other disorders.
Sleep specialists can use histories and sleep studies to diagnose conditions such as apnea, narcolepsy and Parasomnias, then tailor treatment from CPAP and medication changes to behavioral steps like side sleeping, stress reduction and trigger avoidance.
Two to three weeks of data from wearables, bedside devices or bed sensors may help patients spot patterns and guide a medical consult, though consumer trackers cannot provide a clinical diagnosis.