Everyone's Health

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Generally speaking, Americans are a sleep-deprived lot. Here are a few facts about sleep and the lack of it – insomnia – from the University of Pennsylvania's Division of Sleep Medicine and The Better Sleep Council:

1. There are lots of possible signs of sleep apnea, a temporary cessation of breathing during slumber, among them: loud snoring, morning headaches, severe mood swings, impotence, heartburn, chronic daytime drowsiness, requiring two or more medicines to control blood pressure, and getting up during the night to urinate.

2. Alcohol is a terrible sleep aid. While you may initially feel sleepier after drinking, alcohol causes significant sleep disruption later, worsening snoring and sleep apnea. Exercising and eating within three hours of going to bed can also delay sleep.

3. People who get less than the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep a night are up to 73 percent more likely to be obese.

4. If you work a night shift and have trouble going to bed during the day, try wearing dark sunglasses in all types of weather on the drive home. Signals to the body's circadian clock to become more wakeful are dimmed.

5. Roughly 65 percent of Americans say they lose sleep due to stress, women more often than men.

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