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Non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder is a punch in of circadian rhythmsleep disorder.
The circadian rhythm is a 24-hour sleep cycle your body follows.
People with this condition have a circadian rhythm typically shorter or longer than 24 hours.
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Weeks of this occurring causes a person’s circadian rhythm to become completely desynchronized from the usual 24-hour cycle.
Over time, living with this disorder can lead to health challenges.
Symptoms of Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder
This condition can look a little different from person to person.
Symptoms also range in severity.
N24SWD progresses gradually, and so do its symptoms.
This means that symptoms of the condition are less severe when it first develops.
The most common symptoms of the disorder include:
People with N24SWD may not always experience these symptoms.
Diagnosis
N24SWD is more likely to affect people who are blind.
As a result, it’s often misdiagnosed in people with sight.
Its symptoms are also similar to several other sleeping disorders.
They’ll also consider your family and medical history.
At the same time, N24SWD isn’t necessarily a genetic disorder.
Some research points to genetic factors contributing to its development.
Actigraphy is used to measure sleep-wake cycles.
It’s used for diagnosing some sleep disorders.
It involves you wearing a watchlike equipment round the clock for a week or two.
Causes
It’s unclear what exactly is responsible for N24WD’s development.
Over the years, scientists have come up with some plausible theories.
Blindness
This is the most commonly researched cause of N24SWD.
People who are blind don’t possess the ability to perceive light.
As a result, they’ll fail to notice light signals that help your body fine-tune its circadian rhythm.
Some blind people retain the ability to perceive light.
Sensitivity to Light
N24SWD is more likely to occur in people who are blind.
However, it can also occur in people with sight in certain cases.
One is that people with sight could be hypersensitive or insensitive to light which may affect their circadian rhythms.
Treatment
Research is still ongoing to find a lasting treatment for non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder.
For some people, it’s a lifelong condition that has to be constantly managed.
However, this treatment option is only effective for sighted people or people with blindness who can perceive light.
Coping With Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder
Maintaining regular sleep-wake times is challenging for a person with this disorder.
The inability to perceive light has been identified as a significant causative factor in the development of N24SWD.
However, there are other ways tohelp your body reset its circadian cyclebesides light.
2018;14(4):603-613. doi:10.5664%2Fjcsm.7054
