Sleep complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a lot more common despite the restricted volume of reports and studies found in people with ALS. These disturbances include depression, chronic fatigue, insomnia, and restless leg syndrome (RLS).
The relationship between ALS and sleep has always been reciprocal according to various studies. Poor sleep rapidly intensifies the progression of people with ALS. This has let scientists connect its relationship with the neurodegenerative process. Nevertheless, the lack of sleep may also trigger other problems such as pain, immovability, depression, and etc.
What is ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS for short is a progressive nervous system disease. It impacts nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain which causes muscle control loss. ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease as the basketball player was first diagnosed with it. Generally, doctors do not know why people get ALS.
In certain cases, people with ALS have inherited the disease. The condition starts with weakness in the limb and muscle twitching. Then, it progresses and impacts control over muscles needed for breathing, eating, speaking, and moving.
Causes of ALS
This impacts the nerve cells that are responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movements like talking and walking. The condition causes significant damage to the motor neurons until people with ALS end up dying.
The motor neurons extend from the spinal cord to the brain and muscles as well as the entire body. The damage in motor neurons no longer sends messages to the muscles which causes the muscles to stop functioning.
Researchers are extensively studying the causes of ALS. The majority of theories involve environmental and genetic factors.
Sporadic. Occurs randomly which affects up to 95 percent of the cases involved around the world.
Familial. Genetic factors may lead to people with ALS with 5 to 10 percent of cases affecting individuals.
Symptoms of people with ALS
One thing that makes ALS unique is the fact that its symptoms vary from person to person. The symptoms depend on the neurons affected.
- Behavioral and cognitive changes.
- Incongruous yawning, laughing, or cycling.
- Twitching in the arms, tongue, and shoulders, and muscle cramps.
- Trouble swallowing or slurred speech.
- Clumsiness or hand weakness.
- Weakness in ankles, feet, or legs.
- Falling or tripping.
- Difficulty doing normal tasks and walking.
Muscles start to get weaker as the disease advances from the hands, limbs, and feet. It destroys nerve cells and spreads throughout the body. This makes it difficult to breathe, speak, swallow, and chew. In the beginning, patients might not feel much pain but only when the situation deteriorates do they start to take notice.
Treatment
ALS does not have a cure. Hence, the treatment focuses on symptoms alleviation. Unnecessary complications are prevented through the treatment and the rate of disease advancement is slowed down. A team of specialists is needed to deal with the social, mental, and physical changes caused by ASL.
The goal is to manage the symptoms to improve the quality of life and ensure that their survival rate is prolonged. Riluzole had been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in 1995 to help slow down the advancement of the disease.
Other treatment options for helping people deal with ALS include different therapies such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, breathing therapy, and speech therapy. Nutritional support is also offered to patients to help them deal with swallowing difficulty.
There is no cure for ASL as of yet. Preventative measures, like medication and lifestyle choices, slow down the spread of the disease.
Care for people with ALS
Sleep is an issue for people with ALS. Lack of sleep can further drive the disease up because of neurodegenerative processes. Here’s how to help patients sleep better at night.
Nutritional support and a healthy diet
People with ALS experience difficulty in swallowing foods, thus, they couldn’t get the nutrients they need. Carers and nutritionists should work together on how to instill proper diet to ASL patients through feeding tubes to reduce risks of improper swallowing (often leads to pneumonia) and dehydration.
Do breathing exercises
Breathing exercises help clear your thoughts and increase relaxation. For individuals with troubled minds, it’s hard to make a run-through of meditating. Depression affects sleep, thus, meditation is the most effective way to combat negative emotions. Our advice is to take at least 2 minutes a day for meditation. From there, you can work to 5 minutes, and gradually to 30 minutes or more.
Keep regular exercise
Exercise induces better sleep a night and promotes happiness through the release of endorphins and other happy hormones. Exercise pumps our positive mood and turns this energy to be more productive during the daytime.
When our energy is properly used for the whole day, it encourages the release of the hormone melatonin for sleep and rest. For ALS patients, it’s important to seek physiotherapists for light exercises conducive to the individual.
Have carers adjust your sleeping environment
Are there noises coming through the walls? Is the room hot? To get that wonderful sleep, it’s best to keep the room at a cool temperature, preferably at 67 degrees. When the room’s too hot, it can disturb your slumber and, not to mention, your mood.
If the room is too noisy, cancel the sounds with a white noise machine or with a whirr or a fan or air conditioner. Depression affects sleep and too much clutter can disturb your senses and eventually, your slumber.
Instill pre-sleep routines
Pre-sleep routines are habits that can make ALS patients relax before going to bed. Read a book, take them to a warm shower. You can even do light activities such as listening to soft music.
Still, there is no definite indication that lifestyle changes can decrease the risk. However, it can provide relief to people with ALS. Please talk to your doctor for more information on this matter.
Disclaimer: This article is for informative purposes only. Please seek medical advice from your doctor.
