Interesting & Unique Facts about Sleep and Sleep Disorders

1. Sleep is not elective nor is an option, Sleep is required. If you want to survive Sleep is right up there with Food, Air and Water.
2. If you sleep less than 6 hours a night you are sleep deprived.
3. 40% of Adult Americans and 70% of adolescences are sleep deprived.
4. 15 Million Americans work the night shift-40% of them get less than 6 hours of sleep per day.
5. 30% of all working people in the U.S. sleep less than 6 hours a night.
6. Every species known to man sleeps.
7. On average Americans sleep two hours less a night than the average American did 50 years ago
8. The average American sleeps less than 7 hours a night Monday through Friday.
9. The consequences of sleep deprivation are: degraded learning and memory, mood disorder, impaired cognitive functioning and reaction times
10. Individuals are terrible at recognizing their own impairment from sleep deprivation
11. Short Sleepers eat 500 calories or more per day than normal sleepers. Short Sleepers are more likely to eat more fatty foods and carbs.
12. Sleep boosts the immune system.
13. Amyliod Beta is a protein produced all the time in the brain which is flushed out of the brain when you sleep. There is a correlation between the level of Amyliod Beta in the brain and Alzheimer’s disease.
14. Recent research shows that an individual receiving cognitive behavioral treatment for sleep while taking an anti-depressant doubles their chance of overcoming depression.
15. 70 Million Americans suffer from Insomnia and The chances of having insomnia increase with age.
16. Taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep is clinically significant.
17. 20% of the U.S. population take sleep aids to help them sleep.
18. In 2011, U.S. physicians wrote 60 million prescriptions for sleep medications.
19. The most common prescription sleep medications are sedative hypnotics such as Ambien and Lunesta and their generic counterparts Zolpidem and Escopiclone.
20. Sedation inhibits parts of the brain. These drugs are associated with sedation the next day. Such medications are for short term use not use over the long term.