Summary

Sleep is as important to the human body as food and water. Recent research suggests that those who get less than the recommended eight hours a night are more likely to become sick and die sooner than their well-rested counterparts. Though there is much about sleep that remains a mystery to scientists, there is mounting evidence of health risks as more and more Americans cut back on needed rest and bad sleep habits are being passed on to children. Sleep Disorders is a concise guide to sleep and sheds helpful light on how it functions and how it can be disrupted. Coverage includes sleep disorders such as insomnia, snoring, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy, and sleepwalking. Sleep’s relationship to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes is also discussed.

Chapters include:

• What Is Sleep?
• Insomnia
• Sleep Apnea
• Movement Disorders
• Narcolepsy
• Childhood Sleep Disorders.

Specifications

Full-color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Diagrams. Glossary. Sidebars. References. Further reading. Web sites. Index.

About the Author(s)

Mary Brophy Marcus has been a medical writer for more than 15 years. She has worked as a writer and editor for U.S. News & World Report and Men’s Health magazines. Currently a freelance journalist, she writes health articles regularly for USA Today and has also contributed to Self, Shape, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Georgetown Medicine, and The Washington Post. In 1998, she won a PACE Science Journalism fellowship in cell biology to Harvard Medical School. With a B.A. in English and fine arts from Connecticut College, Marcus now lives in northern Virginia.

Foreword author Pat Levitt, Ph.D., is the director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development.