Piotr Nowak, Dariusz Nowak
Farmakoterapia zaburzeń snu.
Część I - zaburzenia rytmu okołodobowego, hypersomnia
2008-01-26
Pharmacotherapy of sleep disorders. Part 1. Circadian rhythm disorders and hypersomnia. Normal sleep is necessary for the good quality of life, and has a great influence on our teaching ability and memory. The slow wave sleep (SWS) causes reactivation of the hippocampal-neocortical circuits that is continuously activated during a waking learning period. However, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is responsible for the consolidation of newly studied knowledge into the long-term memory. Some sleep disorders that results in sleep defragmentation and numerous awakenings lead to excessive daytime sleepiness, impaired quality of life and learning ability, and also to increased risk of traffic accidents. The main cause of hypersomnia in adult subjects is the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Also narcolepsy and Klein-Levine syndrome are characterized by hypersomnia. The clinical features and pharmacological treatment of these sleep disorders as well as circadian rhythm sleep disorders (e.g. advanced sleep phase syndrome, delayed sleep phase syndrome) and effects of night shift work on the sleep are reviewed in this paper.