While you are sleeping your brain and body functions are still active. Sleep is a natural process that helps your body restore energy, supports learning and memory, and keeps you healthy.

It's not just the number of hours of sleep you get that matters. The quality of your sleep is also important. During the night, your brain cycles through different stages of non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. If your sleep is often interrupted, you may not get enough time in certain stages of sleep. Poor-quality sleep does more than make you feel tired. It can affect your physical and mental health, thinking, and daily functioning.

Sleep disorders are conditions that disturb your normal sleep patterns. There are many types of sleep disorders. Some general types include:

• Insomnia, which is trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.
• Sleep-related breathing disorders such as sleep apnea, a condition in which you stop breathing for 10 seconds or more during sleep.
• Sleep-related movement disorders such as restless leg syndrome (RLS), which involves tingling or prickling sensations in your legs, and a strong urge to move them.
• Hypersomnia, which is extreme daytime sleepiness. This includes narcolepsy.
• Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, which are problems falling asleep or waking up at the right times. This may be due to shift work or jet lag.
• Parasomnia, which is unusual behaviors during sleep or while falling asleep or waking up. This may include sleepwalking, talking, or eating during sleep.

Some people who feel tired during the day have a true sleep disorder, while others simply don't get enough sleep. The amount of sleep you need depends on your age, lifestyle, health, and sleep patterns. Most adults need about 7-9 hours each night.

There are different causes for different sleep disorders. They may include:

• Other health conditions, such as heart disease, lung disease, nerve disorders, or pain
• Mental illnesses, including depression and anxiety
• Medicines
• Genetics

Sometimes the cause is unknown.

Other factors that may contribute to sleep problems include:

• Using caffeine or alcohol
• Having an irregular schedule, such as working the night shift
• Aging, since older adults may sleep less, spend less time in deep sleep, and wake easily

The symptoms of sleep disorders depend on the specific disorder. Some signs that you may have a sleep disorder include that:

• You regularly take more than 30 minutes to fall asleep.
• You regularly wake up several times and then have trouble falling back to sleep, or you wake up too early in the morning.
• You often feel sleepy during the day, take frequent naps, or fall asleep at the wrong times during the day.
• Your bed partner says that when you sleep, you snore loudly, snort, gasp, make choking sounds, or stop breathing for short periods.
• You have creeping or tingling sensations in your legs or arms that are relieved by moving or massaging them, especially in the evening and when trying to fall asleep.
• Your bed partner notices that your legs or arms jerk often during sleep.
• You have vivid, dreamlike experiences while falling asleep or dozing.
• You have episodes of sudden muscle weakness triggered by strong emotions.
• You feel as though you cannot move or speak for a brief time when you first wake up.

To diagnose a sleep disorder, your health care provider will review your medical and sleep history and do a physical exam. You may also have a sleep study (polysomnogram). Most sleep studies monitor and record data about your body during a full night of sleep. The data includes:

• Brain wave activity
• Eye movements
• Breathing rate
• Blood pressure
• Heart rate and electrical activity in the heart and other muscles

Other types of sleep studies may check how quickly you fall asleep during daytime naps or how well you can stay awake during the day.

Treatments for sleep disorders depend on which disorder you have. They may include:

• Practicing good sleep habits and other lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise
• Reducing anxiety about sleep with cognitive behavioral therapy or relaxation techniques
• Using a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine for sleep apnea
• Using bright light therapy (in the morning)
• Taking sleep aid medicines, or natural products such as melatonin

Always check with your provider before taking any medicine or supplement. Most sleep aid medicines are generally for short-term use.

Strep is short for Streptococcus, a type of bacteria that often lives in your nose and throat. Most strep infections are mild, but some may become serious depending on your overall health.

There are several types of strep. Two of them cause most of the strep infections in people: group A and group B.

There are different ways that streptococcal infections may spread:

• Group A strep can be spread from a person who has the infection, even if they don't feel sick, when:
  • They cough or sneeze
  • You share a glass or utensil with them
  • You touch something with the bacteria on it and then touch your eyes, mouth, or nose
  • You touch their open wound or sore
• Group B strep can be passed to a newborn through fluids during a vaginal birth

• Group A strep infections are most common in children ages 5 to 15, but adults can get them too. You may be at higher risk if you have a weakened immune system, open sores or wounds, or certain viral infections such as a cold or flu.
• Group B strep is most often a concern for newborns. Adults can also get group B strep infections, especially those 65 or older or who already have other health problems.

Symptoms depend on the type of infection. Most group A strep infections are mild, but some can be serious.

Group A strep may cause:

• Strep throat. A sore, red throat. Your tonsils may be swollen and have white spots on them.
• Scarlet fever. An illness that follows strep throat. It causes a red rash that spreads across the body.
• Impetigo. A skin infection that causes sores or blisters, often around the mouth, nose, or on the arms and legs.
• Cellulitis. A skin infection that causes redness, swelling, and pain, usually on the legs.
• Necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating disease). A rare but serious infection that spreads quickly through the skin and tissue.
• Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. A rare but life-threatening illness where the bacteria release toxins that can cause organ failure.

Group B strep may cause:

• Blood infections, pneumonia and meningitis in newborns
• Urinary tract infections, blood infections, skin infections, and pneumonia in adults

Group A strep. How strep is diagnosed depends on the type of infection. Your healthcare provider will usually diagnose strep throat with a rapid test or a throat culture. Other strep infections may require a physical exam, lab tests, imaging, or in some cases, surgery.

Group B strep. If you are pregnant, your provider will typically screen you for group B strep around 36 to 37 weeks.

Your treatment will depend on the type of infection:

• Group A strep infections often go away on their own after about a week. If you need treatment, your provider will likely prescribe antibiotics. More serious (invasive) group A strep infections may require you to receive antibiotics in a hospital. Without treatment, these infections can lead to serious health problems.
• Group B strep infections in pregnant women are treated with intravenous (IV) antibiotics during labor to protect the newborn. Adults with group B strep infections are also treated with antibiotics.

You can help prevent some group A strep infections by practicing good hygiene habits, including:

• Avoiding close contact with someone who has an infection
• Washing your hands often with soap and water
• Covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze

To help prevent group B strep infections in newborns, you should get screened during pregnancy. If you test positive, antibiotics given during labor can protect your baby.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by bacteria. It infects the genital area, lips, mouth, or anus of both men and women. You usually get syphilis from sexual contact with someone who has it. It can also pass from mother to baby during pregnancy.

The early stage of syphilis usually causes a single, small, painless sore. Sometimes it causes swelling in nearby lymph nodes. If you do not treat it, syphilis usually causes a non-itchy skin rash, often on your hands and feet. Many people do not notice symptoms for years. Symptoms can go away and come back.

The sores caused by syphilis make it easier to get or give someone HIV during sex. If you are pregnant, syphilis can cause complications, or you could lose your baby. In rare cases, syphilis causes serious health problems and even death.

Syphilis is easy to cure with antibiotics if you catch it early. Correct usage of latex condoms greatly reduces, but does not completely eliminate, the risk of catching or spreading syphilis. If your or your partner is allergic to latex, you can use polyurethane condoms. The most reliable way to avoid infection is to not have anal, vaginal, or oral sex.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The thymus is a small organ in your upper chest, under your breastbone. Before birth and during childhood, the thymus helps the body make a type of white blood cell. These cells help protect you from infections.

Cancer of the thymus is rare. You are more likely to get it if you have other diseases such as myasthenia gravis, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. Sometimes there are no symptoms. Other times, thymus cancer can cause:

• A cough that doesn't go away
• Chest pain
• Trouble breathing

Doctors use a physical exam, imaging tests, and a biopsy to diagnose thymus cancer. The most common treatment is surgery to remove the tumor. Other options include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Most young children get sick. It is hard for parents to know what is serious. You can learn what the common warning signs are. In the end, trust your intuition. If you are worried about your toddler, call your health care provider right away.

Well-child visits are important to your toddler's health. Toddlers will get their recommended vaccines during these visits. Routine exams and screenings help you and your kids prevent and treat health problems as well as chart their growth and development.