Here, we look at three more common sleeping problems and find out how to prevent them
Restless Leg Syndrome
If you are experiencing aching, cramps, numbness, pain or weakness running down your leg, you could be suffering from Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). Symptoms tend to be most severe when sufferers are at rest - and especially when they lie down.
It's a condition which affects 15 per cent of people in Britain and although children and men can suffer from the condition, women in their twenties and thirties and those over fifty are most at risk.
Studies show the problem is linked to low levels of dopamine, one of the brain's chemicals responsible for making iron. It is thought that blood loss through periods can make younger women more iron deficient - and therefore prone to RLS. RLS among older women, says Dr Schneerson, is more likely to be part of the ageing process.
The syndrome ranks as the fourth-leading cause of insomnia, according to the British National Sleep Foundation. Most people with RLS have lived with it for years, even decades, before finding a doctor who can put a label on their problem. By that time, many are so sleep deprived they are constantly miserable.
How to prevent it
Older drugs such as levodopa, bromocriptine and pergolide, and benzodiazepines, opioids and anti-convulsants have traditionally been used. Now doctors are prescribing newer drugs such as pramipexole to minimise symptoms and increase periods of restful sleep.
Teeth grinding
Half of all children grind their teeth while sleeping, an involutary jaw action which occurs during the lightest stages of sleep. Experts say this tends to happen because children's muscles are more active than adults due to the immaturity of their brain.
Tooth grinding is also found in one per cent of adults - and is often associated with anxiety, dental problems, high levels of stress or sleep deprivation. Apart from being noisy for partners which can create relationship problems, tooth grinding can ruin teeth and the joint of the lower jaw.
How to prevent it
For this reason a night-time rubber mouthguard is often used to prevent harming the jaw bone and eroding the teeth.
Sleepwalking
Sleepwalking is one of the most common sleeping disorders and is found in one third of children. It is thought sleep walking is more common in younger children because their brains are still immature and haven't yet learnt to be either fully awake or asleep - which leads to confusion in the brain.
Unlike sleep paralysis during which the body is asleep but the mind is awake, during sleepwalking the body is awake and the mind is still asleep. According to sleep consultant Professor Dement, director of the Stanford University Sleep Disorders Center, sleepwalking occurs when a person oscillates between sleep and wakefulness.
'They wake up enough to get the reflex parts of the body working such as walking - without stimulating the higher mental functioning such as opening doors,' he says.
Sleepwalking can last anything from two to five minutes. The worst thing to do if your child is found sleepwalking is to restrain them or wake them up. This could frighten or shock them - and they could become violent. Instead, gently guide them back to bed by talking to them.
How to prevent it
As sleepwalking downstairs or out of the house can be dangerous, fit padlocks on doors and windows and install stair guards, suggests Dr John Schneerson. Although there is no cure for sleepwalking, the good news is children grow out of it by the time they become teenagers.
Three more sleep disorders
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