Sleep Medicine and Physical Therapy

Book excerpt: Sleep is considered one of the vital signs and has become an important public health issue in our society. Thus, sleep impacts on overall health and, conversely, certain common medical conditions can impair sleep. Emerging evidence, in conjunction with clinical experience, demonstrates that physical therapy improves several sleep disorders and also optimized sleep contributes to boost rehabilitation. As health care professionals, physical therapists are singularly concerned with well-being and need to be competent to instruct their patients to rest and sleep. This book discusses evidences of physiotherapy and sleep medicine. It elucidates the neurophysiological background and mechanisms for physiotherapeutic resources and techniques, directing the future for promising research in the area. Divided in seven sections, the work initially addresses the basic concepts of sleep and physiotherapy and its relation to practice, including the importance of sleep medicine for health. The second section focuses on the basic conceptions of physical therapists' understanding and working in clinical practice and research with sleep.The next section reviews the most common sleep disturbances such as insomnia, restless legs syndrome, and respiratory sleep disturbances. Special populations, spotlighting childhood and adolescence, women physiologic reproductive stages, sleep and gender, and sleep and pain interactions are also examined. Last sections discuss the physical therapy resources to improve sleep and to treat sleep disturbances. This title is an essential resource not only for graduate students, residents, health professionals and physiotherapists working in prevention and rehabilitation, but also for researchers interested in screening, diagnostic and treatment innovations. It is addressed to neurologists, sleep medicine specialists and physical educators as well.