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Good sleep helps us think, plan,
organize, remember, speak and comprehend. Sleep restores us and helps
us pay attention. When we do not sleep well, we put ourselves at risk
for drowsiness and accidents. Poor sleep may trigger or worsen
depression and other psychiatric problems and may weaken our immune
system, increasing our susceptibility to infections and other illnesses.
A fascinating and often
misunderstood process
For thousands of years, sleep has been
a focus of fascination and inquiry. Ancient Hebrew texts, William
Shakespeare in "Falstaff," and Charles Dickens in "The Pickwick Papers"
depicted accurately obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Despite this
prescience, organized medicine did not define obstructive sleep apnea
syndrome until the late 1960s. Even today, many physicians are
unfamiliar with sleep disorders and their appropriate treatments.
Scientific surveys of physicians have demonstrated that only a minority
inquire systematically about their patients' sleep. Most medical
schools are just beginning to teach their students about sleep biology,
pathology and treatment.
Sleeping is active
Brain research tells us that sleep is, for the most part, an active
process. In fact, the rules by which our brain functions change as we
enter different stages of sleep. For example, the activity of many
brain cells is similar when we are awake and when we are dreaming.
Sleep remains an incredibly complex and mysterious process despite
substantial gains in our understanding from research.
Millions of Americans suffer
from sleep disorders
According to the National Institutes of Health/National Sleep Disorders
Research Center about 70 million Americans suffer from a sleep problem,
and nearly 60 percent of them have a chronic sleep disorder. In
addition:
- More than 50% of Americans age 65 and older have a sleep problem
- One in 2,000 Americans have narcolepsy, a prevalence similar to that
of multiple sclerosis
- The occurrence of sleep disorders increases with age
- An estimated 80 million Americans will have a sleep problem by the
year 2010
- Currently, the annual national health-care bill for sleep disorders
is estimated to be $15.9 billion
- About 25% of American children age 1-5 have a sleep disturbance
Learn more about the
types of sleep disorders »
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