Olejniczak Piotr W, Fisch Bruce J
Department of Neurology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
Med Clin North Am. 2003 Jul;87(4):803-33. doi: 10.1016/s0025-7125(03)00006-3.
Humans spend approximately one third of their lives asleep. Although the same medical disorders that occur during wakefulness persist into sleep, there are many disorders that occur exclusively during sleep or are manifestations of a disturbance of normal sleep-wake physiology. The most common reason for referral to a sleep laboratory is OSA, whereas the most common sleep disorder is insomnia. Effective treatments now exist for many sleep disorders, such as OSA and RLS, and a major breakthrough in the treatment of narcolepsy seems imminent. Because all disease processes are adversely affected by insufficient sleep, it is essential that the practicing physician understand the causes and treatments of the common sleep disorders.
人类一生中大约有三分之一的时间在睡眠中度过。虽然清醒时出现的相同医学病症会持续到睡眠中，但也有许多病症仅在睡眠期间发生，或是正常睡眠 - 觉醒生理紊乱的表现。转诊至睡眠实验室最常见的原因是阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA），而最常见的睡眠障碍是失眠。现在针对许多睡眠障碍，如阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停和不宁腿综合征（RLS），都有有效的治疗方法，而且发作性睡病的治疗似乎即将取得重大突破。由于所有疾病过程都会受到睡眠不足的不利影响，因此执业医师了解常见睡眠障碍的病因和治疗方法至关重要。
