Читать книгу Dental Management of Sleep Disorders - Ronald Attanasio - Страница 13

Sleep disorders can no longer be thought of as simply having a poor night's sleep. At the current time, there are a large number of different sleep disorders that may affect one's quality of life (QOL). In addition, there is a difference between the sleep state and the wake state. Sleep is not simply an altered state of consciousness. In other words, it is not simply a matter of being asleep or being awake. Sleep is a totally separate behavioral and physiologic state that is unique and well documented. Carskadon and Dement define sleep in this way: “Sleep is a reversible behavioral state of perpetual disengagement from and unresponsiveness to the environment” [1]. As such sleep is a combination of rapid eye movement (REM) and non‐rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep associated with well defined and variable brain activity [2].

Sleep disruption and the specifically recognized sleep disorder may have a major impact on one's well‐being, health status, and even QOL. There may also be other associated public health concerns that are related to accidents, mortality, morbidity, utilization of healthcare, executive function, and routine daily tasks. Therefore, as good sleep may have a positive impact on one's life, the presence of a sleep disorder may have the opposite effect.