30% of U.S. Workers Get < 6 Hours of Sleep A Night.

These statistics are shocking.  And here I thought I was in a minority class…

“A growing number of Americans don’t get enough sleep, thanks to higher stress and other factors”

“Some 20% of automobile accidents come as the result of drowsy drivers”

“U.S. military researchers, meanwhile, have concluded that sleeplessness is one of the leading causes of friendly fire.”

“Technology was making the world smaller by the day; the global economy blurred the lines between one day and the next, and things like time and place were supposed to be growing ever less important in the always-on workplace”

“74%: People who drink a caffeinated beverage on an average weekday”

“13%: People who drink more than six caffeinated beverages on an average weekday”

“Researchers are increasingly finding that lack of sleep is terrible for our health. Sleeplessness has been linked to increased rates of heart disease, obesity, stroke and even certain cancers. The exact reasons for these effects are still largely unknown, but give support to the theory that sleep is the time when our bodies naturally repair themselves on a cellular level.”

“About 60 million prescriptions for sleeping pills were filled in the U.S. last year…That number is up from 48 million in 2006. Yet a number of studies have shown that drugs like Ambien and Lunesta offer no significant improvements in the quality of users’ sleep. And they only give you the tiniest bit more in the quantity department…”

“Nonetheless, there are steps we can take to adapt the way we approach sleep to be more effective for modern life. In a new branch of sleep medicine, scientists have identified how to get a good night’s sleep naturally. Most of the suggestions come down to changing your behavior. One thing you can do is go to bed at the same time every night. Also, studies have shown that people should avoid the bluish light from computer screens, TVs and smartphones—which our brains interpret as sunlight—for at least an hour before bed. And, by doing yoga or other relaxation techniques that put the mind at ease, subjects in studies have dramatically improved both their sleep quality and quantity…”

Read entire article @ Wall Street Journal: Decoding the Science of Sleep – WSJ.com

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