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Emotional HealthSleep disorders - what are they and what causes them?Sleep disorders are disturbances of sleep that can be caused by many things including changes in social patterns or medications. In the past, changes in sleep patterns have been viewed as part of the normal aging process, however new information indicates that many of these disturbances may be related to actual physical changes to the body that are associated with aging. In addition to affecting the quality of life, troubled sleep can also be connected to more serious physical problems.Sleep disorders may have a number of causes, depending on the particular type of sleep disorder. Some disruptions to sleep patterns are caused by things as simple as a change in your daily schedule (retirement) or some medications. Some forms of sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea (breathing stops for brief periods of time during sleep), for example, develop from specific physical causes, while narcolepsy (a condition of unexpected waves of falling asleep) has no known cause.
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