Improving Sleep A Guide To A Good Nights Rest: Sleep Disorders

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Improving Sleep: A guide to a good night's rest

Thanks to technology, with the push of a button you can summon a movie on your television, speed-dial a friend's cell phone, or ensure fresh coffee awaits you in the morning. Unfortunately, there's no button to push that instantly puts you to sleep and wakes you up feeling refreshed. Instead, just like your primitive ancestors, you must lie down and wait for nature to take its course. Sleep may come quickly, slowly, or not at all.

If you have trouble sleeping, you're not alone. Surveys by the National Sleep Foundation have found that more than half of American adults experience one or more symptoms of insomnia a few nights a week, and two-thirds of older adults report frequent sleep problems. An estimated 40 million Americans have chronic sleep disorders such as sleep apnea (see "Sleep apnea"), narcolepsy (see "Narcolepsy"), and restless legs syndrome (see "Restless legs syndrome"). We pay a high price for all the sleep deprivation caused by sleep problems. For example:

• Insufficient sleep is directly linked to poor health, with new research suggesting it increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Even a few nights of bad sleep can be detrimental.

• The combination of sleep deprivation and driving can have deadly consequences. Nearly one in five drivers admits to having fallen asleep at the wheel, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that drowsy drivers cause 100,000 police-reported crashes each year.

• Sleep deprivation has played a role in catastrophes such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska, the space shuttle Challenger disaster, and the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island.

We are born to sleep but stress, illness, and other problems can get in the way.

Sleep problems affect virtually every aspect of day-to-day living, including mood, mental alertness, work performance, and energy level. Yet fewer than 3% of Americans are treated for their sleep problems.

If for any reason you aren't getting your share of sleep, you needn't suffer in silence or fumble about in a fog of fatigue. This report describes the complex nature of sleep, the latest in sleep research, the factors that can disturb sleep, and, most importantly, what you can do to get the sleep you need for optimal health, safety, and well-being.

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Last updated:	January 23, 2007