Article: Top Products To Block Light & Noise

Hey, these guys are hot on the trail! They reviewed products designed to promote better sleep by blocking light and noise (just like the products on our site -- The Complete Sleeper): Sleep Masks, Blackout Blinds and Earplugs.
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/product-testing/reviews-tests/health-beauty/sleep-aids-products?click=main_sr

Here's the article:

Top Products to Block Light and Noise

Having trouble falling asleep? Maybe it's not you. Many uncontrollable elements can keep you awake at night, so GHRI tested a variety of sleeping aids that block light and noise. These top-of-the-line products will get you counting sheep in no time.

Bucky 40 Blinks Mask

This sleeping mask earned the highest score for its contoured shape (which let testers blink comfortably) and its adjustable strap.

Mack's Dreamweaver Contoured Sleep Mask

This mask also did well, though some panelists felt the nose bridge was uncomfortable and the Velcro strap snagged their hair.

Dream Essentials Dreamer Sleep Mask

With its soft, padded lining, this mask was the hands-down favorite in the flush-to-the-eyes style.

JCPenney Savannah Roller Shade

Available in four colors, this shade earned perfect scores on our professional evaluation for opacity.

Smith + Noble Natural Woven Shade with Blackout Lining

Made of woven grass, reeds, or bamboo, this blackout window treatment came in at the top (though a few testers thought the weave allowed some light to shine through).

Hunter Douglas Duette Architella Honeycomb Shade with Blackout

Available in a wide variety of fabrics, colors, textures, and liftings, this honeycomb shade also helps save energy by blocking out heat and cold.

Smith + Noble Blockout Honeycomb Shade

Available in 21 colors, this shade performed well in our lab run-throughs, but some panelists felt that light still came through.

JCPenney Linden Street Suede Blackout Draperies

These drapes, available in five colors, block light while looking soft and textured.

Plow & Hearth Blackout Panels

For the decor savvy, these panels not only block light, they have an elegant drape and come in three colors.

Brookstone Tranquil Moments Sleep Sound Therapy Machine

With 12 sounds, including ocean surf, rain, and white noise, this noise machine will gradually slow down to lull you to sleep. There are also three timer settings, though you can set it to run all night. [This is basically a modified Sound Oasis S-650]

Hearos Ear Plugs Ultimate Softness Series

These foam bullet-shaped plugs scored highest for muffling ability and comfort.

* * *

Check out a full selection of products designed to make your bedroom dark and quiet at The Complete Sleeper: Sleep Masks, Earplugs, Blackout Liners, Sound Conditioners, Wicking Sleepwear and Sheets, Sunrise Alarm Clocks and Light Therapy Boxes.

From 10/16/08 US News & World Report

Some quotes:
"scheduling a good night's sleep could be one of the smartest health priorities you set. "

"Possible health consequences of getting too little or poor sleep can involve the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems."

10 Reasons Not to Skimp on Sleep

Too busy to go to bed? Having trouble getting quality sleep once you do? Your health may be at risk

By Sarah Baldauf

Posted October 16, 2008

You may literally have to add it to your to-do list, but scheduling a good night's sleep could be one of the smartest health priorities you set. It's not just daytime drowsiness you risk when shortchanging yourself on your seven to eight hours. Possible health consequences of getting too little or poor sleep can involve the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. In addition to letting life get in the way of good sleep, between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from a chronic sleep disorder—insomnia or sleep apnea, say—that affects daily functioning and impinges on health. Consider the research:

Video: Common Sleeping Problems

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1) Less may mean more. For people who sleep under seven hours a night, the fewer zzzz's they get, the more obese they tend to be, according to a 2006 Institute of Medicine report.

2) You're more apt to make bad food choices.

3) Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, its precursor, may become more likely.

4) The ticker is put at risk. A 2003 study found that heart attacks were 45 percent more likely in women who slept for five or fewer hours per night than in those who got more.

5) Blood pressure may increase.

6) Auto accidents rise.

7) Balance is off.

8) You may be more prone to depression.

9) Kids may suffer more behavior problems.

10) Death's doorstep may be nearer.

Consumer Reports: Sound Conditioners Virtually As Effective As Sleeping Pills

Finally, a national publication drives home our point: sound conditioners are a safe and effective alternative to sleeping pills, at a reasonable price and with no side effects.

In its September 2008 edition, Consumer Reports writes the following (click here for link):

(Note: our Sound Oasis S-650 is one generation ahead of the top-rated sound conditioner in the article, and costs $30 less)

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Consumer Reports Article

CONSUMER REPORTS SURVEY: 44% OF AMERICANS ARE “PROBLEM SLEEPERS;” NATIONAL SURVEY SHOWS TOO MANY PEOPLE RELY ON PILLS, ARE TOO QUICK TO TAKE THEM, AND STAY ON THEM TOO LONG

Plus, a guide to the most-effective treatments, including non-drug therapies

YONKERS, NY — According to a new Consumer Reports survey to be published in the September issue, 44% of Americans are “Problem Sleepers;” they have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or wake up too early at least eight nights per month. In fact, survey respondents told Consumer Reports they are turning to drugs when other remedies can be just as effective. Even sound machines, which can be purchased from $20-$129, can be helpful, often as helpful as drugs, notes the magazine.

In a nationwide survey of 1,466 adults, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center in April 2008, CR asked people how well they slept the night, week, and month before participating in the survey. The key findings:

• Many people turn to drugs to solve sleep problems; almost 1 in 5 Americans took prescription or over-the-counter medicines at least once a week to help them sleep. Although sleep medications are usually recommended for no more than two weeks, 14 percent of those surveyed took some type of pill on at least eight of the past 30 nights; 5 percent turn to pills every night of the month.
• Sixty-three percent of those who took sleep medications experienced side effects; 24 percent said they became dependent on the medication they used; and 21 percent said that repeated use reduced the drug’s effectiveness.
• Among the 15 percent of respondents who had taken a prescription drug during the preceding month, a disturbingly high 38 percent said they’d been on the medication for more than two years.
• More than a quarter of respondents said it took them 30 minutes or longer to fall asleep the previous night, and one quarter awakened in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep for at least a half-hour. A third woke up much earlier than they’d hoped.
• CR’s survey found that of six characteristics that problem sleepers had in common, the most prevalent was high stress levels. Most of the time, respondents were anxious over family or money concerns, health issues or work woes.

CR’s report cautions that far too many people are turning to medicine as a first resort to treat their insomnia. In fact, last year 24 million prescriptions were written for the four best-selling sleep drugs alone. “What people don’t realize is these medications can pose a host of side effects including daytime drowsiness, even bizarre behavior like sleep-walking, sleep-eating, and sleep-driving. There are alternative treatments, such as sound machines, that may be quite effective, yet pose no risks at all,” said Tod Marks, senior editor at Consumer Reports.

According to the report, drugmakers spend hundreds of millions of dollars yearly trying to persuade Americans to fix their sleep issues with medication. In fact, the two most heavily advertised prescription drugs last year were sleep aids Lunesta and Ambien CR, which had a combined direct-to-consumer ad budget of almost $500 million.

Sound Machines – A Viable Alternative

To gauge the effectiveness of the most commonly used tactics to get sleep, with a parallel survey Consumer Reports analyzed the experiences of 2,021 problem sleepers who used a specific approach for at least eight nights in the previous month before they were surveyed.

Sound machines were found to be almost as effective as pills, with 70 percent of people who tried sound machines saying the machines helped most nights. However, for people suffering from the most severe cases of sleep disturbance, only 50 percent said sound machines helped as much.

Other remedies were less effective: when over-the-counter drugs were used, they helped 57 percent of people most nights, a consistent sleep and wake routine helped 50 percent on most nights and muscle relaxation helped 40 percent on most nights.

With a group of a dozen panelists, Consumer Reports put three sound machines at three price points to the test. The Brookstone Tranquil Moments Sound Therapy System ($129) was a favorite. The machine, with 12 sound settings, masks unwanted noises on the white-noise setting. Half of the panelists said they would purchase the Marpac SleepMate 980A ($60); and just two panelists said they would purchase Homedics SoundSpa SS-2000 ($20). Listen for yourself: Go to www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org to hear these machines.

Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep

Consumer Reports offers the following tips for a good night’s sleep:

• Think alternatives to drugs. The first step need not be a drug. Consider alternatives such as sound machines and relaxation techniques. A cognitive behavioral therapist can help intermittent and chronic insomnia through a number of steps, such as teaching relaxation.
• Examine bad habits. Habits to avoid are: long or late-day naps; watching TV in bed; drinking alcohol or caffeinated beverages close to bedtime; eating large meals at night; allowing pets or children to share your bed; and, varying bedtime and wake-up times.
• Check your mattress. Your bed could be one source of sleep problems. If a mattress is more than eight years old, replace it.
• See your doctor. If sleeplessness persists several nights a week for at least three months, it’s probably time to see a doctor. If your doctor suggests a prescription medication, new pills such as Ambien CR, Lunesta, and Sonata, aren’t necessarily better than older, cheaper drugs such as estazolam or temazepam for many people who need a sleep aid for just a night or two.

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Visit The Complete Sleeper for a complete range of sound conditioners and other "sleep acccessories" at the best prices.

Pilots sleep - plane misses destination

I almost thought this was a joke -- but two pilots in India fell asleep while flying a commercial plane with 100 passengers and overshot their destination by several hundred miles. They were allegedly exhausted by their work schedule.

Here's the link:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/File_Plane_overshoots_Mumbai_as_both_pilots_go_to_sleep/articleshow/3165569.cms

MUMBAI: An Air India Jaipur-Mumbai flight flew well past its destination with both its pilots fatigued and fast asleep in the cockpit. When the pilots were finally woken up by anxious Mumbai air traffic controllers, the plane was about half way to Goa. ( Watch )

This nap in the sky took place about a fortnight ago on the domestic leg of a Dubai-Jaipur-Mumbai flight — IC 612 — which had about 100 passengers on board. "The plane took off from Dubai at 1.35am IST and then from Jaipur at 7am. After operating an overnight flight, fatigue levels peak, and so the pilots dozed off after taking off from Jaipur," said a source.

The flight schedules of pilots prior to this flight is not known.

The aircraft was supposed to take the A 474 South route — a designated route to Mumbai — and since it was on autopilot, it headed in that direction. "It was only after the aircraft reached Mumbai airspace that air traffic controllers realized it was not responding to any instructions and was carrying on on its own course," said the source.

Said an air traffic controller: "The aircraft should have begun its descent about 100 miles from Mumbai, but here it was still at cruising altitude. We checked for hijack and when there was no response we made a SELCAL (selective calling)."

Every aircraft has its own exclusive code. When the ATC uses this high frequency communication system — which it does very rarely and only when other communication draws a blank — a buzzer sounds in the cockpit. Jolted by the sound of the SELCAL buzzer, the pilots woke up and brought the plane back to Mumbai safely.

Kanu Gohain, directorate general of civil aviation, was not available for comment. Contacted for its version on Wednesday evening, Jitendra Bhargava, director, public relations of Air India, said, "The director, operations, is getting information on the matter."

'Aircraft had communications failure'

General manager, Mumbai aerodrome, M G Junghare, denied that the pilots were asleep behind the control column. "The aircraft had a radio communications failure and so could not be contacted. It had gone only 10 or 15 miles off Mumbai and after we ascertained that it was not hijacked we made the SELCAL," he said.

Commanders, however, pooh-poohed this claim and said the lapse was being hushed up. "There is a strict procedure which is followed during a radio communications failure whereby the aircraft should have descended to a holding point. Instead, it flew over Mumbai. Also, every flight has an Expected Time of Arrival (ETA), so why did it not begin its descent even after crossing its ETA?" argued a check pilot.

For the last one month, airlines have been following an old set of pilot rest rules that has no scientific backing. This happened after DGCA issued a circular in May asking airlines to the old and outdated Flight Duty Time Limitation that essentially lengthened flight duty hours. DGCA withdrew the new timing schedule introduced in July last year and which was based on scientific studies by Nasa. The pilots protested this. A Joint Action Committee of Airlines Pilots' Association has recently moved the Bombay HC to quash the DGCA circular stating that shorter breaks between long-haul flights and even ultra-long haul flights could compromise safety.

"If you get home past midnight and then by noon the next day you are in a car back to the airport, and if this happens every other day and you do not even know your weekly off in advance, the buildup of exhaustion is huge," said a commander. The latest incident, an index of fatigue in the skies, could strengthen the pilots' case. "Had the aircraft flown over Hyderabad they would not have been able to contact the pilots since SELCAL is available only at old airports like Mumbai and Chennai since it is an obsolete technology and not used in newer airports. Moreover, a SELCAL cannot be made in certain weather conditions," the commander said.

A similar incident in the US in February suggests that pilots don't have it easy there either. The difference is that the US authorities were not only open about it, but initiated corrective measures. Two 'go!' airline pilots fell asleep while flying from Honolulu to Hilo, cruising past their destination for 18 minutes before waking up and returning safely. The two pilots had been flying for three arduous days. Following the incident, the US's National Transportation Safety Board highlighted the need for new rules. It recommended working hour limits for flight crews, aviation mechanics, and air traffic controllers based on fatigue research.

"5 ways to get (and stay!) asleep tonight"

Here's an article from Yahoo/Shine urging people to "create a bedroom that seduces you into sleep". How? "Keeping your room cool and dark, choosing pillows and bedding that are comfortable and you enjoy settling in to and adding black-out curtains behind your window treatments will help set the stage."

Here's the link: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/5-ways-to-get-and-stay-asleep-tonight-191333/

Here's the article:

5 ways to get (and stay!) asleep tonight

• by Jessica Ashley, Shine staff, on Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:42pm PDT
• Read More from This Author »

• 23 Comments
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We've all been there in the heart-pounding moments at 3 a.m., when we desperately want to be asleep but somehow cannot get there, when we are racking our brains for what is in our medicine cabinet that might help us along or what soothing things mothers and grandmothers did to help lull us back into sweet dreams. While our sleep can be easily interrupted by a wide variety of factors, the stress that comes in getting and staying asleep doesn't make any night more restful. Before you pop a pill or crank up the late late late show or melt down in a fit of insomnia, consider these five things that might just be the sheep you should be counting:

1. Identify the insomnia issue. Americans average seven hours of sleep a night and 60% of us report difficulty sleeping at least several nights a week. The bigger problem is, many people leave it at that, never examining why they are awake long before the alarm clock goes off or everyone else is sound asleep.

Where do I begin? The first thing you need to do to cure your sleep struggles is determining if you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or both. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep all night, you're experiencing insomnia. If you can fall asleep with ease but wake up in the middle of the night regularly, you may have the more-specific issue of "sleep maintenance insomnia". Most of us have short-term sleep issues like these at some point, but a solid 10-15% of people suffer from chronic insomnia.

Insomnia often occurs during periods of stress and may be impacted by depression, sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome. Rather than focusing on the irritation of being sleep-deprived, try to take a look at both the patterns of insomnia and things going on in your waking life that could be preventing your rest.


2. Take note. Consider keeping an informal sleep journal next to your bed. There's no need to make a journal another stresser but logging some simple information - the date, the time you woke up, how long you stayed awake before you felt sleepy again, your stress level on a one to ten scale - might offer you some helpful information in addressing the insomnia yourself or with a doctor. Although you might know, for example, that you have a high-stress job, it might take a little journaling to connect midnight wakings with Thursday staff meetings or an upcoming deadline.

How will this help? Taking note of how often you have sleep problems and exactly when may also strip away any of those tendencies to say "I NEVER sleep" or "I'm an AWFUL sleeper." Instead, you'll have some more concrete information that will move you from "I often am awake from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m." or "When bills are due, it takes me longer to fall asleep." This kind of real understanding will lead you to a solution much easier than sitting (or laying or pacing) in your frustration).


3. Use your daytime activity to support your nighttime rest. It probably isn't a surprise that even small amounts of exercise will help you rest easier at night. Adding in a walk after lunch or some yoga at your desk will pay off when it is time to turn in.

What about food? Avoid drinking and eating things that will affect your ability to relax or stay in bed. If spicy food gives you heartburn, try not to eat it at a late dinner. If drinking all your water for the day sends you to the bathroom four times before dawn, make a commitment to do most of your hydrating before lunch. Caffeine, sugar and alcohol are also common thieves of sleep, so be aware of when you are consuming them, in what quantities and how the impact your personal sleep patterns. If you must eat close to bedtime, choose a small amount of carbs paired with a protein (oatmeal with skim milk, yogurt with granola, whole grain crackers with soy butter, sliced apple with cheese are all healthy choices to late night snacking).


4. Really prepare for bed. As a mother, I don't know a single parent who doesn't have a well-established bedtime routine for their children. As a mother, I also find myself falling into bed with barely any transition time or closure on the day. At what point do we forget why the songs-stories-snuggles end of the day is so critical to the beginning of our night?

There's no need to ask your husband to read you Goodnight Moon and rub your back while singing Frere Jacques (but if that works, hey, why not?). Do weave some soothing rituals into the half-hour before you want to fall asleep by reading a few pages, stretching, meditating, listening to calm music or just breathing deeply. Releasing the day in these ways will help you let go of those nagging to-do lists and anxieties and prompt your brain and body that it is time to relax.

What are some other routines I can do? Setting a cell phone or watch alarm may cue you to keep a regular bedtime. Lavender essential oils or pillow sprays may soothe you as you settle in and counteract the chaos of the day. Finally, turn off the television, laptop and any other gadgets that make you unnecessarily accessible to life and work outside your bedroom. Finally, there's one thing from your childhood that may still work like a charm when you are having trouble sleeping. Warm milk may really help you drift off because it contains tryptophan, an amino acid that converts melatonin and seratonin and could induce sleepiness.


5. Create a bedroom that seduces you into sleep. Do you notice on cable home make-over shows how often couples ask for a renovation that will make their bedroom into a haven? Our frenetic schedules, cluttered homes and tight spaces may mean we stack up so much in our bedrooms that there's no way to escape, even to sleep! Taking a weekend to clear all that out will help you make a healthy sleep environment and may have an immediate impact on how restful you feel in that space.

Many experts say that your bedroom should be a place reserved only for sleeping and sexual intimacy (see? once again, it comes back to the snuggling). Keep this in mind as you are moving your desk, filing cabinets, sewing machines, mountainous laundry piles and kids' toys out of your room and into places where no one needs to sleep.

How can I dial down the action and dial up the allure? Keeping your room cool and dark, choosing pillows and bedding that are comfortable and you enjoy settling in to and adding black-out curtains behind your window treatments will help set the stage. Remove the television. If this pains you or your partner, consider moving it out for a month to see if it helps. If it must stay, keep it in a cabinet or armoire that closes or cover it with a scarf so you have one more marker for turning off when you turn in.

If the stress of your days still seeps in, keep a worry book by your bed where you can write down what (literally) could keep you awake that night. Or if the to-dos are what's nagging at you all night, keep a stack of sticky notes and pen next to the bed so you can transcribe them right away, knowing you can pick them up in the morning.




Still wide awake? No! These posts won't put you to sleep but they might help you out if you need some ZZZZs:

• Help me out!: What's your bedtime routine?
• 4 ways to get a good night's sleep
• How much sleep did you get last night?
• Get rid of your under-eye circles
• Undercover: Sleep masks

Sleep: A Necessity, Not a Luxury

An interesting excerpt from the article below:

"Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation."

Ouch!

Here's the link: http://www.healthcentral.com/newsdetail/408/611908.html

And the article:

Sleep: A Necessity, Not a Luxury

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
Sunday, June 8, 2008; 12:00 AM

Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.

SUNDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- The pace of life gets faster and faster, and people try to cram more and more into every minute of the day.

As things get more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. It's seen as wasted time, lost forever.

"For healthy people, there's a big temptation to voluntarily restrict sleep, to stay up an hour or two or get up an hour or two earlier," said Dr. Greg Belenky, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University Spokane.
"But you're really reducing your productivity and exposing yourself to risk," Belenky added.

That's a message doctors are trying to spread to Americans, including the estimated 40 million people who struggle with some type of sleep disorder each year.

Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

"The group of people getting optimal sleep is getting smaller and smaller," said Dr. Chris Drake, senior scientist at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. "When a person's sleep drops to six hours or less, that's when a lot of things become very problematic."

While experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep each night, the amount needed for an individual can vary.

But lack of sleep affects a person in one of two ways, Belenky said. First, sleeplessness influences the day-to-day performance of tasks.

"The performance effects are seen immediately," he said. "You short-change yourself of sleep, and you see the effects immediately. You can make a bad decision. You can miss something. Have a moment's inattention, and you're off the road."

The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation involve a person's health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse.

"Hormones that process appetite begin to get disorganized," said Drake, who's also an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. There's a decrease in the amount of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone, when a person gets too little sleep. At the same time, ghrelin -- a hormone that stimulates appetite -- increases with a lack of sleep.

Too little sleep also interferes with the body's ability to regulate glucose and can cause inflammation leading to heart problems and a rise in blood pressure. "There's a stress response to being in a sleep loss," Belenky said.

The types of people not getting enough sleep also break down into two groups. First, there are those who make the conscious choice to go without enough sleep.

"It's sort of part of the culture," Belenky said. "People pride themselves on getting little sleep. You'll hear people bragging, 'I only need six hours a night.' So there's a macho element here."

On the other hand, there are people who are suffering from sleep disorders. These disorders include:

* Insomnia, an inability to go to sleep or stay asleep.
* Sleep apnea, or breathing interruptions during sleep that cause people to wake up repeatedly.
* Restless legs syndrome, a tingling or prickly sensation in the legs that causes a person to need to move them, interrupting sleep.

Someone suffering from any of these problems should visit their doctor or see a sleep specialist, Belenky said.

Sleep apnea, the most prevalent sleep disorder, can have particularly serious long-term effects if left untreated. "You're waking up out of sleep to breathe. You can't sleep and breathe at the same time," Drake said. "It's a risk factor for developing major cardiovascular health effects."

Some people who have trouble sleeping will resort to mild sedatives like Ambien and Lunesta.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently asked the makers of these sedative-hypnotic drugs to strengthen their warning labels. This action followed reports of dangerous allergic reactions, as well as a host of bizarre behavioral side effects that include sleep-driving, making phone calls, and preparing and eating food or having sex while asleep.

Drake and Belenky both consider sleeping pills to be fine for the short term if taken properly.

"Sleeping pills are a temporary solution," Belenky said. "If you're upset about something or have situational insomnia, or you're trying to sleep at the wrong time of day because you've traveled across time zones, they are effective."

But, both doctors noted the pills will do nothing to help a chronic sleep problem. "They don't address the pathology of their sleeplessness," Drake said.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health offers these tips for getting a good night's sleep:

* Stick to a regular sleep schedule.
* Avoid exercising closer than five or six hours before bedtime.
* Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bed.
* Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
* Don't take naps after 3 p.m.
* Relax before bed, taking time to unwind with a hot bath, a good book or soothing music.
* If you're still awake after more than 20 minutes in bed, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy. Anxiety over not being able to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.

More information

To learn more, visit the National Sleep Foundation.

Sleep & Health: Major Government Study

Here's a major government study linking sleep deprivation to obesity, smoking, alcohol use and physical inactivity. The study does not prove causation, but it does make one wonder, as it is consistent with a slew of other studies linking sleep deprivation with poor health (mental and physical).

The title is: "Sleep Duration as a Correlate of Smoking, Alcohol Use, Leisure-Time Physical Inactivity, and Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2004-2006." The study is from the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here are an excerpt from the Introduction:

"The importance of sleep in maintaining good health and quality of life is well recognized. Despite evidence of the health implications of insufficient sleep, a large number of Americans do not routinely get optimal hours of sleep. It is estimated that 70 million Americans are affected by chronic sleep loss or sleep disorders."

And the Conclusion:

"The findings in this report, based on a survey of a representative sample of U.S. adults, offer a national perspective on the association between sleep practices and other health-related behaviors in the U.S. adult population. The findings presented here suggest that U.S. adults who usually slept less than 6 hours were more likely than adults who slept 7 to 8 hours to engage in certain health risk behaviors (i.e., cigarette smoking, having five or more drinks in a day, engaging in no leisure-time physical activity, and being obese). In many cases, adults who usually slept 9 hours or more were also at increased risk of engaging in these unhealthy behaviors. The associations between sleep and other behaviors are complex, and the directions of causality cannot be determined with the cross-sectional data used in this analysis. Additional analyses are needed to identify the causal directions of these relationships, as well as to identify factors, such as poverty or educational attainment, that may influence sleep and its associated factors. Despite these limitations, the findings presented here provide important information about the potential relevance of discussing health risk behaviors such as smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, and obesity with patients who seek medical advice for sleep concerns."

Here's the link:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/sleep04-06/sleep04-06.htm