The University of California recently released a new study concluding, “Widely undiagnosed sleep disorders may be the root of the most common and disabling symptom of the disease: fatigue.” Steven Brass stated, “A large percentage of MS subjects in our study are sleep deprived and screened positive for one or more sleep disorders.” Seventy percent of the 2,375 participants in Northern California were identified as having at least one type of sleeping disorder. These participants were selected from 11,400 applicants. The results of the 2,375 participants include: 11% take a medication for sleep, 38% had sleep apnea, 32% had moderate to severe insomnia, 37% had restless leg syndrome, and 52% take more than 30 minutes to fall asleep.

“Sleep disorder frequency, sleep patterns and complaints of excessive daytime sleepiness suggest that sleep problems may be a hidden epidemic in the MS population, separate from fatigue,” Brass said. For more on this article read, “The Underdiagnosis of Sleep Disorders in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis” in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2014 at: http://www.aasmnet.org/jcsm/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=29625 or read Science Daily’s review at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140912215111.htm. Image from en.wikipedia.org.