CDC Reminder: National Sleep Awareness Week Starts Tomorrow
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reminding the public that National Sleep Awareness Week begins tomorrow and runs through March 9, 2008.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends that healthy adults sleep 7-to-9 hours daily. Younger persons need even more sleep. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says sufficient sleep is increasingly being recognized as an essential aspect of health maintenance.
Insufficient sleep might result from lifestyles and behaviors, medical conditions, and other factors. Persons experiencing insufficient sleep might be suffering from chronic insomnia, sleep apnea (commonly characterized by periodic gasping or snorting during sleep), narcolepsy (sudden, extreme sleepiness coupled with a loss of muscle tone), or restless legs syndrome (a "crawling" sensation seemingly arising from the lower legs, characteristically relieved by movement, such as walking or kicking).
Iinsufficient sleep has been linked to impaired school and work performance and to the development of chronic diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression, CDC says.
Additional information about the public health implications of sleep is available at www.cdc.gov/sleep. Additional information from the National Sleep Foundation can be found at www.sleepfoundation.org/site.