Sleeping disorders are common problems which cause people to seek help from physicians, psychologists, books, and pharmaceutical remedies. Some of these disorders run in families either due to a genetic component or possibly a behavioral one. Some sleep disorders are not only aggravating, but they can be a significant threat to health.
Common Neurological Sleep Disorder
Restless leg syndrome is one of the most prevalent sleep disorders, and the incidence increases as people become elderly. This genetic neurological disorder causes prickly sensations and a need to keep moving the legs while the person is trying to sleep.
Family-Related Sleep Disorder
Another prevalent sleep disorder is obstructive sleep apnea, which often runs in families. The airway keeps closing during sleep, causing the person to wake up just enough to start breathing again. This may be a genetic problem, or--since overweight people and those with type 2 diabetes are more likely to have sleep apnea--there may be a family behavioral component also.
Hypersomnia
Hypersomnia is excessive sleepiness, making an adult need to regularly sleep more than 10 hours daily. Sleep specialists theorize that hypersomnia has a genetic component.
Uncommon Neurological Sleep Disorder
Narcolepsy is a neurological condition which causes people to uncontrollably and suddenly fall sleep, for up to half an hour at a time. This usually is a genetic condition.
Worst Sleep Disorder
The worst sleep disorder is very rare, and it is called fatal familial insomnia. Estimated to affect about 40 families worldwide, the condition is terminal, and it results from a gene mutation which eventually causes the sufferer to be unable to sleep at all.
Tags: genetic component, Neurological Sleep, Neurological Sleep Disorder, prevalent sleep, Sleep Disorder, Sleep Disorder, sleep disorders