Sleep disorders in kidney disease

Sleep disorders are common in patients with end stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis. However also a well functioning renal graft does not cure the poor sleep pattern which now emerges as a problem even in early chronic kidney disease (CKD). When patients are made aware for the first time of a disease such as CKD, which may brink to dialysis or at the best to a renal transplant patients begin to experience a disordered sleep. Sleeping disorders include insomnia (I), sleep apnoea (SAS), restless legs syndrome (RLS), periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), excessive daily sleeping (EDS), sleepwalking, nightmares, and narcolepsy. Disordered sleep did not meet the clinical and scientific interest it deserves, in addition and we do not have a well defined solution for sleeping complaints. However, awareness that a poor sleep is associated with poor quality of life and carries an increase in mortality risk has recently stimulated interest in the field. There are many putative causes for a disordered sleep in chronic kidney disease and in end-stage renal disease. For a unifying hypothesis demographic factors, lifestyles, disease related factors, psychological factors, treatment related factors, and social factor must be taken into consideration.