Glossary

Medical Conditions

Most medical conditions come with associated sleep problems.  In some they are very obvious, for example people who wake up during the night with asthma attacks and have nocturnal asthma may have complaints that are restricted only to the nighttime period.  For others sleep deprivation may lead diabetics to be less in control of their diabetes or in a more general sense may leave people with a significant medical condition less able to cope with that condition. Research supporting this has been carried out in people with rheumatoid arthritis, renal failure and multiple sclerosis.  There are changes in sleep and quality of sleep in patients with conditions as far apart as cancer and Parkinson’s disease and in each of these cases there is the merit of having a detailed sleep assessment and treatment as it may have a significant bearing on overall wellbeing.

Research has shown very clearly that people with sleep disorders seek much more in the way of medical care overall and therefore treating the sleep disorder becomes a saving to the healthcare system.