Dr. Mukesh

Sleep-Wake Disorder is a very uncommon syndrome which causes irregular sleeping patterns without any real schedule.

Causes
Persons with brain malfunctioning and those who do not have a regular routine during the day experience such disorders. People with changing work shifts often experience such disorder. Also, travellers who often move from one country to another with different time zones may also have these symptoms.
There's no cure for this disorder, but treatments, including hormones, medicine, and light therapy, can help get you closer to a normal sleeping pattern.

Symptoms

Symptoms may include any of the following:

1. Sleeping or napping more than usual during the day
2. Trouble falling asleep and staying asleep at night
3. Waking up often during the night

Exams and Tests
A person must have at least three abnormal sleep-wake episodes during a 24-hour period to be diagnosed with this problem. The time between each such episode varies from 1 to 4 hours. The doctor may advise you to go ahead with a device called actigraph in case the diagnosis is unclear. The device looks like a wristwatch, and it can tell when a person is sleeping or awake.

Treatment
Though there is no simple cure for irregular sleep-wake syndrome, however, several therapies and lifestyle changes may help a person return to a normal sleep-wake cycle. These include:

1. A regular daytime schedule of activities and mealtimes need to be fixed.
2. You should not stay in bed during the day for long.
3. Use bright light therapy in the morning like those from computer screens and television. The period of exposure should also be increased. Exposure to blue light should be minimized at night.
4. You should take melatonin at bedtime. This is a hormone that controls the sleep-wake cycle. By taking doses at the right times, you might be able to shift your body clock earlier or later.
5. Make sure to make the room dark, quiet, and as comfortable as possible at night.
6. Also one should try to minimize the amount of noise in the sleep environment.
7. Add more structure to the patient’s day by scheduling social interaction, exercise, and other activities.
8. Your doctor may prescribe drug to control the timing of the sleep-wake cycle.

Finally, you should take proper care of yourself. Make positive changes in your lifestyle. You can even ask your boss to make your work schedule a bit flexible.

The ultimate goal of these lifestyle changes is to help the person sleep longer at night and make him feel active and awake during the day. Most people have sleep disturbances on occasion. But you need to consult a doctor if such sleep disorders occur regularly.

Joints are intersections between bones; they provide support to your body during movement. There are a host of conditions which might lead to joint pain; they are bursitis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and gout. The most common joint pain disorders are knee pain, hip pain and shoulder pain. 

Ayurveda associates joint pain with loss of bone density in the joints. This problem is characterized by a feeling of discomfort and cracking sounds. If the condition is not treated, it might lead to immobilization of the joint. The condition of the bones tends to deteriorate as they do not receive enough nutrition. 

The other cause that leads to joint pain is toxin accumulation in the joints. As the toxin accumulates, it leads to heavy and stiff joints. If preventive measures are not taken on time, continuous accumulation of toxins may lead to swollen joints. 

The various ayurvedic remedies for joint pain are:

1. Diet
Focus on eating foods especially that are salty, sour and sweet in taste. Add healthy foods such as rye and quinoa along with ghee as they pacify the "vata" in your body. Focus on natural foods such as vegetables and fruits to your diet.

2. Herbs
Certain herbs such as turmeric help to treat joint pain. It contains curcumin that has anti-inflammatory properties which help in reducing the pain. You may also consume fenugreek seeds for its antioxidant content and anti-inflammatory properties. 

3. Lifestyle changes
Make sure you exercise on a daily basis, do basic bodyweight exercises such as push-ups and squats to improve your strength. You may also start with yoga workouts to build flexibility and mobility in your body.

4. Smoking and alcohol
Limit smoking and alcohol consumption to keep your body healthy, and free from free radical damage. Alcohol may also cause you to put on weight, thus leading to obesity. Smoking may cause various problems in the lungs that may lead to breathing disorders.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!