PWHS helps people get zzzzzs

If you can’t sleep, and it’s interfering with your day-to-day activities, you are not alone. According to Dr. Kevin Glass, presenter at the Prince William Health System’s recent seminar “Getting Your Zs with More Ease,” sleep problems affect 67 percent of the population.

More than 30 people attended his seminar at Prince William Hospital to learn about sleep and its disorders.

Glass began his lecture with a quote from Albert Camus, “Some people talk in their sleep. Lecturers talk while other people sleep.” Glass offered frightening statistics: 67 percent of the population suffers from sleep problems; 37 percent are so sleepy it interferes with their daily activities. In 2005, he said, 60 percent of Americans who drive reported they drove while drowsy in the past year; 13 percent reported that they nodded off while driving at least once a month.

“This is frightening to me,” Glass said, “and it should be frightening to you, too.”

There are many causes for these statistics, Glass said. “Over the past century, the average sleep time has been reduced by 20 percent,” Glass said, blaming culprits like electricity and television for the change. Also to blame, he said, was the increased time locals spend on the road, commuting.

It may sound obvious, but “the most common cause of sleepiness is not getting enough sleep,” Glass said. While American adults get about 7 hours of sleep on average, 8 hours is considered ideal.

For most, 5-6 hours is associated by symptoms of sleep deprivation.

Glass said sleep is designed to help us rest and recover, consolidate memories, remove toxins and facilitate nerve functions.

Read the full story in the print edition of the Observer.