Sleep disorder

Sleep disorder

The disturbance of normal sleep patterns caused by a broad range of illnesses, including dysfunctional sleep mechanisms, abnormalities in physiological functions during sleep, abnormalities of the biological clock, and sleep disturbances that are induced by factors extrinsic to the sleep process.

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Sleep disorder

Insomnia

Health care; Sleep disorder

Sleeplessness; chronic difficulty with sleep onset or maintenance of sleep, or a perception of nonrefreshing sleep. People with insomnia have one or more of the following: * difficulty falling ...

Restless legs syndrome (RLS)

Health care; Sleep disorder

Sleep disorder characterised by a deep creeping, or crawling sensation in the legs even when the legs are not moving. There is neurologic movement disorder that causes an almost irresistible urge to ...

Endogenous rhythms

Health care; Sleep disorder

Rhythms driven by an internal, self-sustaining biological clock rather than by signals that are external to the organism (for example, light).

Exogenous rhythms

Health care; Sleep disorder

Rhythms that are directly regulated by an external influence, such as an environmental cue. They are not generated internally by the organism itself.

REM period

Health care; Sleep disorder

REM portion of a NREM-REM cycle; early in the night it may be as short as a half-minute, whereas in later cycles longer than an hour.

Nocturnal

Health care; Sleep disorder

Relating to or taking place at night. This is used to describe an animal behaviour characterised by activity during the night and sleeping during the day.