Get some shut eye: a lousy night's rest ruins more than your day.

• Author: Campbell, Carolyn
• Position: Executive Living

James Larson recently checked into the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center Sleep Clinic following some scary occurrences. His wife had started noticing occasions when he briefly stopped breathing at night. And while driving to Las Vegas, he felt drowsy several times and needed frequent stops.

So Larson scheduled a sleep study at the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center Sleep Clinic, where he was diagnosed with sleep apnea. He was prescribed a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine to use while sleeping. By helping keep his airways open, the CPAP reduces the number of times he stops breathing at night, and Larson now uses it regularly. On another road trip following the study, he didn't feel drowsy at all. "I also have significantly more energy in the evening," he says.

Sleepless Nights

Larson is among 35 million Americans who suffer from a sleep disorder. Rachel Sullivan, manager of the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center Sleep Clinic, explains that normally, an individual will have trouble sleeping and subsequently feeling tired no more often than once a week. But a sleep-disordered person is likely to feel sleep deprived daily.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"If sleepless nights are overwhelming your nights of good rest, it's advisable to see a specialist," she says.

Sleep disorders are highly disruptive to quality of life, causing daytime fatigue and a lack of productivity. Such disorders also pose serious health risks, as they are linked to conditions such as high blood pressure, heart attacks, obesity and strokes. "There is a significant decrease in the likelihood of these conditions if sleep disorders are treated," says Sullivan.

But 95 percent of individuals suffering from sleep disorders are undiagnosed, she says, adding that "millions of people drive with inadequate sleep." In fact, 200,000 sleep-related car accidents occur yearly--and 50,000 premature, preventable deaths occur as a result of sleep disorders.

Sullivan stresses that sleep is extremely important to health because "it affects the entire rest of your life."

The World Health Organization has declared shift work--which often results in less sleep--as a "known cancer-causing carcinogen." Sullivan explains that shift work can decrease life span by up to 25 percent. Furthermore, "a person who can't sleep and stays up until 4 a.m. has more health problems and a shorter life span. During the recent economic downturn, people are stressed out, with financial problems and family...