across the Lifespan Practicum - Chamberlain
NR 547 Week 4
1. Lack of sleep may lead to: mental health problems, injuries, decreased
productivity, and increased risk of death: mental health problems, injuries, de-
creased productivity, and increased risk of death
2. Excitatory vs sleep-promoting neurotransmitters: Excitatory
-acetylcholine
-norepinephrine
-histamine
-serotonin
-orexin
-dopamine
Sleep-promoting
-GABA
-melatonin
-adenosine
3. Restless legs syndrome treatment: Dopamine agonists
,• Provide supplementation if needed
Gabapentin/ pregabalin
-severe or painful RLS
4. The and give the penis its erectile,
sexual function.: three corpora and associated blood vessels
5. Erectile dysfunction: AKA impotence
-the inability to get and/or maintain a penile erection that is firm enough for sexual
relations
-can be due to physical or psychological causes
• affect any of the areas of the brain, reproductive hormones, emotions, nerves,
muscles, and/or blood vessels that are involved with the phenomenon of erection
• most common physical causes include heart disease, atherosclerosis (clogged
blood vessels), high blood pressure, nerve damage, and stroke
• most common psychological causes include stress, anxiety, depression, or com-
munication issues with the sexual partner
6. CDC recommends that adults sleep hours per night: 7-9
7. The sleep cycle occurs over approximately minutes with
distinct stages: 50-70 minutes
five distinct stages
8. Sleep Cycle Stages: Stage 1: Drowsy
-Short period of non-REM sleep, includes drowsiness & drifting off to sleep; can
, movement stops; more repeated sleep cycles occur in stage 2 than in any other
stage.
Stage 3: Moderate to Deep Sleep
-Heartbeat & breathing slow to lowest levels and muscles relax; more challenging
to wake; brain waves slow, delta waves are present.
Stage 4: Deep Sleep
-Stages 3 and 4 are necessary to feel rested in the morning; brain waves are almost
exclusively delta waves; sleepwalking, if present, occurs during this stage
Stage 5 - REM sleep
-approximately 90 min after sleep begins; eyes move rapidly from side to side with
eyes closed; breathing is irregular and faster than during other stages; heart rate
& BP are similar to waking levels; most dreaming occurs during REM sleep; sleep
paralysis can occur; REM sleep decreases with age.
9. Factors Affecting Sleep: -Emotional stress
-Fatigue
-Use of drugs or other substance abuse
-Physical illness
-Environmental factors
-Food and caloric intake
10. Sleep/wake homeostasis: the function that tracks the body's need for rest and
controls the amount and intensity of sleep
-affected by light and dark
• If the eyes perceive light, melatonin production is suppressed, leading to wakeful-
ness