Somnambulism (Sleep Walking), A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

Sleepwalking (somnambulism) is a medical sleep disorder that happens when people walk or do other activity while still asleep.

Sleepwalking, formally called somnambulism, is a sleep behavior disorder that starts during deep sleep and leads to walking or doing other complicated behaviors while asleep.

It happens much more frequently in children than adults and tends more to happen if a person is deprived of sleep.

Normally, the sleepwalker's eyes are open with a glassy look that seems to look through a person as he or she moves around the house.

Talking nonsensically may follow this sleepwalking.

If a person asks him or her questions, he or she will be slow to react or not react at all.

It normally happens in middle childhood and adolescence but can continue into adulthood.

There is a genetic tendency.

What is the cause of Sleepwalking?

Causes

The normal sleep cycle has stages, from light drowsiness to deep sleep.

Stage 1, 2 and 3 are defined as non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.

During the last stage 4 called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the eyes move quickly and vivid dreaming is most frequent.

During the night, there will be several cycles of non-REM and REM sleep.

Sleepwalking most often happens in the first and second cycle during deep non-REM sleep (stage 3 or stage 4 sleep) early in the night.

It can happen during REM sleep near morning.

It is not normally observed during naps.

The person is not aware and does not remember his or her behavior.

Sleepwalking (somnambulism) most often happens during deep, non-REM sleep (called N3 sleep) early in the night.

Sleepwalking is when someone walks or carries out complex activities while not fully awake.

It normally occurs during a period of deep sleep.

This is at its height during the early part of the night, so it tends to occur in the first few hours after falling asleep.

Each night, people go through several cycles of non-REM and REM sleep.

In rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the eyes move rapidly and vivid dreaming is most frequent.

Some episodes of sleepwalking may affect the person who will be just sitting up in bed and looking around, briefly appearing confused, while in others the person may get out of bed and walk about, open cupboards, get dressed or eat, and may seem excited.

In extreme cases, the person may walk out of the house and carry out complicated activities, such as driving a car.

While sleepwalking, the eyes are normally open, though the person will look straight through people and not recognize them.

They can often maneuver well around familiar objects.

If a person would talk to a person who is sleepwalking, they may partially respond or say things that do not make sense.

The sleepwalking episodes are seldom more than 10 minutes, but can be longer.

At the end of each episode, the person may awaken or return to bed and go back to sleep.

They will not normally have any memory of it in the morning or have patchy memory.

If woken while sleepwalking, the person may feel confused and not remember what happened.

The best thing to do if a person sees someone sleepwalking is to make sure they are safe.

Gently guide them back to bed by giving them reassurance.

If not disturbed, they will often return to sleep again.

Sometimes, gently waking the person after they have fully come out of the episode, before putting them back to sleep, will prevent another episode occurring from the same deep sleep cycle.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction

Chapter 1 Sleep Walking

Chapter 2 Causes

Chapter 3 Symptoms

Chapter 4 Diagnosis

Chapter 5 Treatment

Chapter 6 Prognosis

Chapter 7 Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Chapter 8 Nightmare Disorder

Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Jun 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463666487

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Somnambulism

(Sleep Walking),

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2016 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes the Sleepwalking, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What The patient Need to Treat Sleepwalking)

This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If the patient would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank the patient for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Condition) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Conditions into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 700 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical conditions.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a condition or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Sleepwalking

What is Sleepwalking?

Sleepwalking (somnambulism) is a medical sleep disorder that happens when people walk or do other activity while still asleep.

Sleepwalking, formally called somnambulism, is a sleep behavior disorder that starts during deep sleep and leads to walking or doing other complicated behaviors while asleep.

It happens much more frequently in children than adults and tends more to happen if a person is deprived of sleep.

Normally, the sleepwalker’s eyes are open with a glassy look that seems to look through a person as he or she moves around the house.

Talking nonsensically may follow this sleepwalking.

If a person asks him or her questions, he or she will be slow to react or not react at all.

It normally happens in middle childhood and adolescence but can continue