Tips for a Better Night's Sleep if You're Sleepy on the Job

There's no denying that sleep deprivation, and the health issues that result, are becoming more prevalent in our go-go, techno society. But a recent sleep study by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) grabbed my attention as particular cause for concern.

Every year, the NSF releases a Sleep in America® poll. For its 2012 survey, the NSF examined the specific sleep habits and work performances of transportation workers -- pilots, train operators, and truck, bus, taxi and limousine drivers. The transportation workers were asked about the duration and quality of their sleep, specifically on work nights, and how it affects their work performance.

Some of the results of the survey were:

• About one-fourth of the train operators and pilots polled said that sleepiness has affected their job performance at least once a week.

• One in five pilots polled -- about 20 percent -- said they have made a "serious error" as a result of on-the-job sleepiness.

• One in five pilots and one in six train operators admit to a "near miss" due to on-the-job sleepiness.

• Pilots and train operators are more likely than non-transportation workers to have been involved in a sleep-related car accident while commuting.

• Among all workers surveyed, train operators and pilots report the most work day sleep dissatisfaction.

• Almost two-thirds of train operators and one-half of pilots say they rarely or never get a good night's sleep on work nights.

• About one-third of bus, taxi, and limo drivers said they rarely or never get a good night's sleep on work nights.

The results of the poll are some cause for alarm and reinforce the growing problem of sleep disorders and the potential risks they pose, such as commuter car accidents and errors by public transportation drivers responsible for many people.

Persistent sleep problems left untreated can also lead to myriad health problems, including memory and concentration problems, increased risk of high blood pressure, hypertension, stroke and heart attacks, depression, diabetes and sexual dysfunction. Severe cases of sleep apnea can even be fatal.

Besides these sobering health risks, an untreated sleep disorder can also be the root cause of poor performance at work or school, car accidents and other activities that require focus and concentration.

Common Symptoms of Sleep Disorders

Many people experience some occasional difficulty sleeping and/or daytime fatigue. But how does a person know if he or she has a temporary sleep problem that can be remedied with some simple behavioral changes or if it is a legitimate disorder, such as snoring, sleep apnea, sinusitis or nasal obstruction that should be diagnosed and treated properly?

The first step is to be aware of some common symptoms of sleep disorders. Keep in mind that symptoms vary between disorders, such as snoring, sleep apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, nasal obstruction, and narcolepsy, so it pays to do some research based on what you are personally experiencing.

Some common symptoms of sleep disorders include:

• Trouble falling asleep at night

• Waking throughout the night

• Chronic snoring

• Morning headaches

• Poor memory

• Daytime sleepiness/falling asleep during the day/low energy

• Bad moods/ irritability

• Increased depression

• Trouble concentrating/driving/making decisions

The Link Between Lifestyle and Sleep Problems

If you or someone you know is experiencing some of the above common symptoms of sleep disorders, the next step is to examine if lifestyle habits are contributing to the difficulty sleeping, fatigue and irritability during the day and other symptoms.

Some behavioral and lifestyle questions to ask include:

• Am I watching TV or using the computer late at night and too close to bedtime?

• Am I consuming too much caffeine during the day?

• Am I taking a medication that may be affecting my sleep quality and duration?

• Is there something particularly stressful going on in my life that is causing me worry and anxiety?

• Am I exercising enough to help alleviate some of that stress and tension?

See a Specialist -- And Be Specific

Many sleep problems can be remedied by making some common-sense behavioral changes. However, if you or someone you know is experiencing one or more of the above symptoms on a regular basis, see a qualified ear, nose and throat doctor or otolaryngologist to get diagnosed and treated properly. There are multiple options and minimally-invasive techniques available today to treat your sleep disorder.

When you see a specialist, be specific about the symptoms you are experiencing. Many times, sleep apnea and other sleep disorders can be misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue, insomnia, depression, or some other non-specific condition. Some doctors, for example, still associate sleep apnea more with men than women, and are too quick to prescribe a medication, rather than do a full sleep disorder work up.

It may help to keep a sleep log (or, more accurately, lack-of-sleep log) next to your bed to write down what you are experiencing, when you wake and some symptoms you experience. Again, to try and avoid misdiagnosis, go to a qualified sleep specialist and be specific about your symptoms. Don't wait -- it could save your life.

To read the full report, see "Sleepy Pilots, Train Operators and Drivers" on the National Sleep Foundation website.

Read more here

Treating sleep apnea may reduce risk of heart problems

Treating sleep apnea does more than ensure you get enough good quality sleep. It might also help protect you from getting a heart attack.

A recent study revealed that changes to the heart caused by untreated sleep apnea, which have a similar impact on the body as high blood pressure, were almost completely reversed after six months of apnea treatment.

Lead author Gregory Lip, M.D., a researcher at the University of Birmingham Center for Cardiovascular Sciences in Birmingham in England, and his colleagues compared three groups of patients, including one group of 40 people with moderate to severe sleep apnea.

They compared cardiovascular data from these patients to a group of 40 people with high blood pressure and a group of 40 healthy people.

Even though the sleep apnea patients had only a slightly higher than typical blood pressure, the abnormalities researchers observed in the apnea patients' hearts and its ability to pump were similar to the abnormalities seen in the hypertensive patients.

The hearts of the sleep apnea patients tended to be larger and have thickening in their walls. They also showed a lower pumping ability.

After these patients spent six months receiving treatment for their apnea in the form of continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, the heart irregularities returned to nearly the same measurements as those of the healthy patients.

The researchers used 3-D echocardiograms and Doppler imaging of the heart muscle tissue for their observations, which provide more accurate data than past research that has shown a link between obstructive sleep apnea and problematic changes in the heart's left ventricle.

"Our findings imply that OSA could be crucial in the development of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction that can lead to heart failure and increased mortality if left untreated," Lip said.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to provide a comprehensive assessment of left ventricular structural and functional parameters using advanced echocardiograms in otherwise healthy apnea patients," he added.

Dr. William Kohler, M.D., medical director of the Florida Sleep Institute in Spring Hill, Florida, said this study adds even more weight to the building research that links severe sleep apnea to cardiovascular disease.

"It's very important for patients who have hypertension and other signs of cardiovascular disease to be evaluated for underlying possible sleep problems, including and, in particular, obstructive sleep apnea," said Kohler, who was not associated with this study.

"This particular study gives additional important proof of the significant correlation between cardiovascular disease and sleep apnea," he said.

Lip suggested a randomized trial to confirm or clarify the findings because limitations of this non-randomized, non-blinded study included the potential for observer bias and the fact that the sleep apnea patents tended to have a higher body mass index, another risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

The study appeared online March 13 in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association.

Read more here

What is good 'sleep hygiene'?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 75 million Americans — more than one-quarter of the population — say they don't get enough sleep. Almost 30 million say they suffer from chronicinsomnia.

This restlessness, the CDC warns, can lead to a number of chronic illnesses and conditions, including diabetes,cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression.

It can also take an economic toll as productivity lags and workplace safety comes into question. Lack of slumber results in an average of 11.3 days, or $2,280, in lost productivity per worker each year, and the total cost to the nation is more than $63 billion annually, according to a recent study by Harvard Medical School.

"Sleeplessness has become an epidemic in the United States," said Dr. Douglas Prisco, director of sleep medicine at Keck Hospital of USC. "People are having an extremely hard time turning off."

This is National Sleep Awareness Month, so it's a good time to focus on what all the experts say is a problem that's getting bigger. But before we get to possible solutions for the sleep-deprived, let's look more closely at the reasons for our sleeplessness.

Dr. Ronald Popper, who runs the Southern California Pulmonary & Sleep Disorders Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, said he's seen a roughly 30% increase in patients since the economy tanked a few years ago.

"People have more on their minds," he said. "They have a hard time shutting down when they go to bed."

And it's not just anxiety about our jobs, homes and future keeping us awake at night. Popper and USC's Prisco also cited busier lifestyles, a culture of 24-hour news and entertainment and the ubiquity of gadgets like smartphones and iPads that can keep people gazing at electronic screens well into the wee hours.

"Bright lights suppress melatonin secretion," Popper observed. "That makes it harder to fall asleep."

The nonprofit National Sleep Foundation reported last year that nearly all of the more than 1,500 people surveyed interacted with some sort of electronic device within an hour of bedtime. That included watching TV or going online.

By the same token, the poll found that 43% of respondents ages 13 to 64 said they rarely or never get enough rest on weeknights. Most said they would like about 71/2 hours of shut-eye, but typically get fewer than seven hours.

About 15% of adults 19 to 64, and 7% of young people 13 to 18, reported sleeping fewer than six hours on weeknights.

"We're particularly having a problem with teenagers, who end up being overly sleepy in school," said Dr. George LaBrot, a sleep specialist at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. "The best solution is to remove all the electronic devices from their room."

Easier said than done, as any parent will attest.

Meanwhile, people are doing everything they can to keep pace with a faster world. We schedule activities early in the morning or late at night. We skip meals when they interfere with other stuff. We keep ourselves heavily stimulated with regular doses of caffeine.

In 1987, Starbucks had just nine outlets, all in the Seattle area. Now it has more than 19,000 worldwide.

So what's a would-be sleeper to do?

Many people turn to quick fixes like Ambien, Lunesta or other prescription drugs. The research firm Global Industry Analysts estimated in a report last month that the worldwide market for sleeping pills will be worth $9 billion by 2015.

But sleep experts say this merely places a Band-Aid on the problem. To achieve lasting results, they say, you have to address the causes of sleeplessness and change your behavior accordingly.

In the sleep trade, this is known as having good sleep hygiene.

The CDC recommends avoiding caffeine, alcohol and nicotine anywhere near bedtime. It also advises skipping large meals and vigorous exercise as rock-a-bye time approaches.

A key element of good sleep hygiene is acclimating your body to a regular schedule. That means trying to go to bed and wake up around the same time every day.

The National Sleep Foundation recommends turning your bedroom into "a cool, comfortable sleeping environment that is free of distractions."

The foundation also advises keeping a "worry book" next to the bed. If anxiety is keeping you up, write down what's on your mind, jot down a few ideas about how to cope with things, and then forget about everything until morning.

There's also a technique called "sleep restriction" that's worth considering (It worked for me). If you get into bed and often toss and turn for an hour or more, start going to bed later at night, while still getting up at the same hour each morning.

That may sound counterintuitive for someone who wants more sleep — and it certainly wipes you out for a while — but the idea is to provide deeper, more restful sleep by limiting your time under the covers to the hours you're actually catching z's.

As you become more proficient at staying down, you gradually try to lengthen the amount of time in bed until you get closer to the seven or eight hours most experts say is preferable.

Read more here

Study Claims that Kids' Concussion Symptoms Can Last a Year

Some children who suffer a concussion will display continued difficulties, such as attention and memory problems, for many months, a new study finds.

Concussions, also known as mild traumatic brain injury, are common in childhood, with more than 500,000 children and teens a year needing hospital treatment for these injuries, the researchers note.

"The results of the study suggest that the majority of kids who sustain mild traumatic brain injuries actually do quite well and don't have to have persistent symptoms after their injury," said lead researcher Keith Owen Yeates, director of Behavioral Health Services at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

"But, there is a small, but significant proportion of kids that do go on to have persistent symptoms after their injury, lasting as long as three to 12 months," he added.

The extent and duration of the symptoms appear to be related to the severity of the injury, and can affect quality of life and school performance, he said.

Kids shouldn't go back to play until their symptoms are gone, and the medical profession must fine-tune guidelines regarding permissible post-concussion activity, Yeates said.

The report was published in the March 5 online edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

For the study, Yeates' team compared almost 200 children and teens ages 8 to 15 who suffered a mild brain injury to about 100 similarly aged children who had a bone injury.

The researchers looked for symptoms of headache, fatigue, inattention and memory problems during the year after the injury.

They found children who suffered a mild brain injury were more likely to show these symptoms compared to other children. Also, the physical symptoms abated sooner in the concussed kids than the problems involving mental, or cognitive, functioning.

Moreover, these symptoms appeared worse in children who had lost consciousness or had abnormalities seen on brain scans, the investigators added.

It's not just football and hockey that pose a risk for student athletes. Soccer is the leading cause of sports-related concussions among high-school-age girls, the study pointed out.

Dr. Frederick Rivara, a professor and division chief of general pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle and author of an accompanying journal editorial, said concussions are taken more seriously by physicians, parents and coaches nowadays.

Sports are important for health, but care must be taken to protect youngsters from head injuries, Rivara said.

"If kids have symptoms of concussion they should be taken out of the game and shouldn't return to play without seeing a physician," he said.

Rivara said children should see a doctor after a concussion whether or not they lose consciousness.

"We have ignored these injuries, and we don't know enough about these injuries," he said. More research is needed about the consequences of concussions, he added.

Read more here

Eating Berries May Be Beneficial for the Brain

Strong scientific evidence exists that eating blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and other berry fruits has beneficial effects on the brain and may help prevent age-related memory loss and other changes, scientists report. Their new article on the value of eating berry fruits appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

In the article, Barbara Shukitt-Hale, Ph.D., and Marshall G. Miller point out that longer lifespans are raising concerns about the human toll and health care costs of treating Alzheimer's disease and other forms of mental decline. They explain that recent research increasingly shows that eating berry fruits can benefit the aging brain. To analyze the strength of the evidence about berry fruits, they extensively reviewed cellular, animal and human studies on the topic.

Their review concluded that berry fruits help the brain stay healthy in several ways. Berry fruits contain high levels of antioxidants, compounds that protect cells from damage by harmful free radicals. The two also report that berry fruits change the way neurons in the brain communicate. These changes in signaling can prevent inflammation in the brain that contribute to neuronal damage and improve both motor control and cognition. They suggest that further research will show whether these benefits are a result of individual compounds shared between berry fruits or whether the unique combinations of chemicals in each berry fruit simply have similar effects.

Read more here

Surgery Often Overlooked as an Option for Epilepsy

Brain surgery is generally considered a last resort for some epilepsy patients whose seizures are not controlled with drugs, but performing surgery earlier may prevent years of suffering, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Only a small percentage of patients with seizures that can’t be controlled by medications are ever referred to an epilepsy center that offers surgery. Those who are referred have often had uncontrolled seizures for several decades.

In the new multi-center study, almost all patients who had surgery much earlier in the course of their disease were seizure-free two years later, while none of the patients who did not have surgery were free of seizures.

The study was small, but researchers say the findings confirm that early surgical intervention offers certain epilepsy patients the best opportunity to avoid a lifetime of disability.

“There is a misconception that epilepsy is not serious enough to warrant brain surgery, but it is,” says researcher Jerome Engel Jr., MD, PhD, of the UCLA Seizure Disorder Center. “People die from this disorder. Yet, less than 1% of people with drug-resistant epilepsy are ever referred to epilepsy centers.”

Epilepsy Surgery Effective

Nearly 3 million Americans and 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and 20% to 40% of them do not achieve seizure control with drugs alone.

In the new study, 38 patients with a form of epilepsy that is often resistant to anti-epileptic drugs were either assigned to continue drug treatments alone or to a treatment regimen that included surgery and drugs.

The surgery involved the removal of an abnormally functioning section of the brain about the size of a walnut, Engel tells WebMD.

During the second year of follow-up, none of the 23 patients treated with drugs alone were free of seizures, but 11 of 15 patients (73%) treated with surgery and drugs were seizure free.

Nine of the surgery patients never experienced another seizure following surgery.

The surgery patients also reported better health-related quality of life for up to 18 months following surgery, but they also had more problems with memory.

Engel says memory and language impairment is an uncommon side effect of the surgery, but many patients who experience this surgical side effect recover fully.

Patients Aren’t Being Referred

The researchers originally intended to include 200 patients in the study, but they were unable to recruit this number largely because of a lack of referrals.

The American Academy of Neurology recommends referring certain epilepsy patients who have failed two anti-seizure drugs to specialized epilepsy centers for evaluation.

Neurologist Donald L. Schomer, MD, of Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, tells WebMD this does not happen often enough.

“We see patients all the time who have never been formally evaluated but have been told that they aren’t candidates for surgery,” he says. “Many of these people have had intractable seizures for eight or 15 or even 20 years.”

American Academy of Neurology spokeswoman Sheryl Haut, MD, says the organization has been working with other medical and patient advocacy groups for years to spread the word that patients with intractable seizures need to be evaluated by specialists.

Haut directs the Adult Epilepsy Program at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y.

She says while it is appropriate for patients to be initially treated by a neurologist, those who continue to have seizures while taking drugs should be referred to an epilepsy center.

“Patients who continue to have seizures shouldn’t keep taking the same medications year after year,” she says.

Read more here

Spring Forward: Helping Your Body Adjust to Daylight Savings

Spring forward soon. There are effects form losing even one hour of sleep. JR

Sure we get an extra hour of daylight, but adjusting to Daylight Savings Time, which kicks off next weekend, can be a challenge. Our physical time-keeping clocks are easy to change, but what about the internal clocks?

"I get up an hour early for the first few days," said Huntsville resident Gene Lang.

Well, the best way to adjust to either time change, falling back or springing forward, is developing good habits and nighttime rituals to which you can adhere.

According to the Mayo Clinic, you should try the following:

• Stick to a schedule. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, holidays and days off. Being consistent reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night.
• Pay attention to your tummy. Don't go to bed either hungry or stuffed. Your discomfort might keep you up. Also limit how much you drink before bed, to prevent disruptive middle-of-the-night trips to the toilet. Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol deserve caution, too.
• Create a bedtime ritual. Do the same things each night to tell your body it's time to wind down. This might include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to soothing music — preferably with the lights dimmed. Be wary of TV, computers and other electronics
• Get comfortable. Create a room that's ideal for sleeping. Often, this means cool, dark and quiet. Your mattress and pillow can contribute to better sleep, too.
• Limit daytime naps. Long daytime naps can interfere with nighttime sleep — especially if you're struggling with insomnia or poor sleep quality at night. If you choose to nap during the day, limit yourself to about 10 to 30 minutes.
• Be physically active during the day. Regular physical activity can promote better sleep, helping you to fall asleep faster and to enjoy deeper sleep. Timing is important, though. If you exercise too close to bedtime, you might be too energized to fall asleep.
• Manage stress. When you have too much to do — and too much to think about — your sleep is likely to suffer. To help restore peace to your life, consider healthy ways to manage stress. Start with the basics, such as getting organized, setting priorities and delegating tasks.

Read more here

Three Things You Should Know About Concussions

Concussions have become a hot topic of discussion with the recent head traumas seen throughout the NFL in the 2011 season. It is estimated that approximately 400,000 concussions related to sports are reported on the high school level each year. These concussions are reported in four female sports and five mail sports. It is believed, however, that this figure should be much higher. Concussions can significantly impact the athlete, especially the child and teen athlete. There are three facts that every child and teen athlete need to know to help protect themselves.

Helmets are Not Foolproof

Helmets are extremely important because they lessen a blow's impact and help to prevent skull fractures. However, people have sustained concussions when wearing a helmet because they do not prevent the brain from sliding and hitting the skull. Because of this, athletes and their coaches need to educate about how to tackle so that it lessens the chance of injuring the other athlete.

Physical Rest is Not Enough to Recover

Child and teen athletes certainly need physical rest after sustaining a concussion, but this is just not enough. This is even true for professional athletes. Concussions can take a long time to recover from, even months in some cases. Just look at Cleveland Browns' quarterback Colt McCoy. When recovering, athletes should refrain from all risky activities to prevent the chance of a second concussion occurring when they are still recovering from the first. Also, athletes need to rest mentally. If the athlete is having difficulty doing mental activities, such as reading or concentrating, more mental rest is necessary. This is a brain injury, so both physical and mental rest are equally important in leading to a total recovery.

Not all Concussions Cause Unconsciousness

It is a common misconception that all concussions cause the person to pass out. However, about 90 percent of the time, the person does maintain consciousness. This is why it is so critical for all head injuries to be evaluated by a medical doctor immediately after sustaining the injury. Athletes should also follow the motto: when in doubt, sit it out. It is always better to be on the safe side when it comes to concussions and head injuries.

Read more here

Why are Americans Having Trouble Sleeping?

Why are 70 million Americans having trouble getting a good night's sleep? Let us count the ways:

We are over-caffeinated (coffee, soft drinks, energy drinks, snacks) and over-medicated (prescription and over-the-counter drugs, including alcohol), wreaking havoc with slumber patterns.

We are over-wired (video games, Web browsing, social media, texting) and overstressed (money, work, relationships, overloaded schedules), making us too restless to doze off when we should.

We are overworked (longer hours, night shifts incompatible with our biological clocks) and overweight (perhaps a chicken-or-egg deal, as different studies have found that one leads to the other).

And then there's societal pressure, what nationally recognized sleep expert Dr. Mark Mahowald calls "the pervasive, erroneous attitude that sleep is not a biological imperative, that it is negotiable. We have raised sleep deprivation to a badge of honor."

The effects might outnumber the causes, and are hardly as benign as many of us might think. "Any degree of sleep deprivation will impair performance: behind the wheel, in the classroom or workplace," Mahowald said.

He added that the Bhopal, Challenger, Exxon Valdez and Three Mile Island disasters "all are officially attributed to problems from sleep deprivation. But the biggest risk of sleep deprivation is car crashes, period."

No wonder the number of accredited sleep centers has risen nationwide by 630 percent in just 15 years. And while sleep study results have been all over the map and sometimes contradictory, experts such as local doctors Mahowald and Michael Schmitz know a lot more than researchers did even a decade ago.

The lowdown

• Insomnia victims have trouble falling or staying asleep in a setting with adequate conditions for sleep; this becomes chronic insomniaif it lasts more than three weeks. Sleep deprivation is caused by behavioral or situational factors that curtail or mitigate the ability to get enough sleep time.

• Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep a night. The amount a person needs is genetically determined, Mahowald said. "Some people might need four hours on the short end, up to 10 on the high end. We have absolutely no control over this."

• Anyone who uses an alarm clock "is by definition sleep-deprived," Mahowald said, "because if the brain had received the amount of sleep it wanted, you would have woken up before the alarm went off."

• Melatonin is a hormone, secreted daily by the brain's pineal gland, that helps maintain the body's sleeping cycle. A nonprescription synthetic melatonin pill is sold in the United States and is widely used. The FDA does not test or regulate melatonin because it doesn't consider it a drug.

• Larks and owls: "Some people are early to bed, early to rise; others late to bed, late to rise. We have very little control over that," Mahowald said. "So you see a lot of problems when an owl marries a lark and each one thinks the other is being stubborn."

EFFECTS

• With sleep deprivation, some glucose metabolism problems might predispose one to diabetes. And if so, a consequence could be heart disease and stroke.

• With insomnia, there is no evidence of long-term physical problems or links to other diseases. But insomnia results in poorer quality of life and work absences and can lead to depression.

• There is some evidence that severe sleep apnea can lead to hypertension, heart problems and a higher risk of strokes.

SOLUTIONS

• Improving sleep hygiene -- avoiding late eating and drinking, keeping the room cool and dark, winding down before bedtime -- can improve or resolve transient or acute insomnia but probably not chronic insomnia.

• For chronic insomnia, cognitive behavioral therapy is equally as or more effective than medications. Medication often is useful for acute insomnia.

• Naps can help -- except when they don't. "We discourage napping when anyone has problems falling or staying asleep at night, which might be an untreated sleep disorder," said behavioral sleep specialist Schmitz. "We encourage power naps, 30 minutes or less, when folks can't stay awake or will have late-night events."

• See your doctor if: You have had difficulty falling and staying asleep for more than a week. Or if you snore, have frequent awakenings and are reporting sleepiness during the day. Anyone with apnea symptoms should seek treatment.

BY THE NUMBERS

One third of Americans suffer from insomnia at some point in their lives.

14 to 15 hours of sleep a night is recommended by the Mayo Clinic for infants, 12 to 14 hours for toddlers and 10 to 11 for school-age children.

84 classifications of sleep disorders have been found.

2,365 U.S. sleep centers are accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. In 1997, there were 374; in 2006, there were 1,000.

2 million U.S. children suffer from sleep disorders.

18 million Americans probably suffer from sleep apnea, with more than half of them undiagnosed.

$15.9 billion is added to national health care costs by sleep problems, according to the National Commission on Sleep Disorders.

Read more here