Cancer and Sleep

excerpt from http://www.cancer.org

Getting a Good Night's Sleep May Be Challenging for a Cancer Patient

A good night's sleep can work wonders for an individual's outlook on the day at hand. When someone loses sleep or does not get the kind of sleep that refreshes, irritability can result and the ability to complete tasks may be difficult. Overall, the person’s quality of life is affected.

For individuals with cancer, problems with sleep may be caused by pain, anxiety, depression, medications, or night sweats. Sleep may be difficult because of side effects from treatment or overnight hospital stays. And, the growth of a tumor may be another factor affecting sleep in some cancer patients, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Chronic sleep disturbances, resulting in loss of sleep, may make it hard for cancer patient to continue therapy. For a cancer patient, fatigue already may be a problem and sleep loss can contribute significantly to this challenge.

"Fatigue is a very common effect of cancer and its treatment, but it can be reduced with such measures as a program of regular exercise, rest periods during the day, and restful sleep during the night," according to Terri Ades, RN, ACON, director of quality of life and health promotion strategy at the American Cancer Society.

"Of course adequate restful sleep is important for many reasons and loss of sleep for anyone, including the cancer patient, can occur for a variety of reasons," Ades says. "Most sleep disturbances can be treated effectively, but the cause of the problem must first be identified. Treatment is aimed at treating the cause."

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