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Counting sheep on the Net
Did you have to pull an all-nighter during finals week last semester to cram for that exam or complete a final paper? Do you have commitments that keep you up late, but must maintain an early-morning work schedule, requiring you to burn the candle at both ends? Have you overslept and still felt tired afterward? Or might you subscribe to Thomas Edison's view that four hours of sleep per night is sufficient? As we dust off after the winter break to face the new semester, it's a good time to examine our sleep habits and determine whether lifestyle changes are in order.
According to the National Sleep Foundation (www.sleepfoundation.org), two-thirds of Americans deprive themselves of the recommended eight hours of sleep a night. Consequences of such long-term deprivation may include depression, memory problems, headaches, susceptibility to allergies and illnesses, irregularities in blood pressure and emotional instability. Insufficient sleep also can lessen work productivity and jeopardize safety while driving or doing heavy labor. The non-profit foundation's Web site is an all-purpose clearinghouse of information, featuring sleep tips, essays pertaining to sleep issues according to age or gender, quizzes on habits and common myths, surveys (e.g., "Do sleeping jurors violate the defendant's right to a fair trial?"), results of the 2005 "Sleep in America" poll and key articles from its newsletter, sleepmatters.
Another professional membership organization, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) (http://www.aasmnet.org/) is committed to advancing sleep research and educating health professionals. The academy publishes the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the current issue of which is online, and sponsors a public site on sleep education (http://www.sleepeducation.com/) and a directory of sleep centers (http://www.sleepcenters.org/), two of which are in Amherst and Cheektowaga. The sleep education site shares recent findings of sleep studies, and lists disorders and their common treatments. It also includes forums for common sufferers of sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, deprivation, sleepwalking, work-shift fatigue and other disorders to discuss with professionals and to counsel one another.
With the slogan "Everything you wanted to know about sleep but were too tired to ask," Sleepnet.com (www.sleepnet.com) also aims to increase awareness about sleep disorders and healthy living. Although it is not officially affiliated with health-related organizations, the site offers similar discussion forums to the AASM site mentioned previously. Parents of children with sleep-related conditions also can share stories and strategies with one another. In addition, there are "rated and reviewed" links to other sleep-related sites, which include scholarly organizations.
Several medical-product manufacturers have co-sponsored another informational and interactive site, Talk About Sleep (http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/) which, in addition to separate pages devoted to insomnia, apnea, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia, offers live chat as well as message boards. Along with the other sites, common causes of sleep-related problems are identified, along with tips for healthier sleep (e.g., establishing consistent bedtime routines and moderating caffeine and alcohol intake). The corporate nature of this Web site explains its emphasis on industry news rather than recent research.
For current information on sleep research, make sure you utilize UB's online databases, particularly Medline (http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/medline.html).
Surfing the Web can help improve your goals for healthy sleep patterns—provided that you don't stay up past your bedtime while obtaining it. Sweet dreams, and don't let the bedbugs bite!
—Rick McRae, University Libraries