Here is a great article from Reader's Digest that argues very persuasivley that "Sleep deprivation now rivals obesity and smoking as our greatest public health crisis."
The article goes on to describe "how we got so tired."
According to the author, the "difference between when our natural body clocks want us to sleep and what we have on our social/family/work schedules has been called 'social jet lag," a widespread phenomenon of people being out of sync with their biorhythms becuse the demands of their lives intrude."
"Instead of sleeping and waking with the sun, we stay up way after dark and wake before dawn."
"But social jet lag, unlike the jet lag you suffer when you travel, can be an almost permanent state."
"People do more and more things at odd hours," says David Dinges, PhD, professor of psychiatry and chief of the sleep and chronobiology lab at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "Our lifestyle is increasingly chronochaotic."
"Today, technology is further eroding our natural biological sleep patterns", says Dinges.
“We’ve created a kind of social hypervigilance with technology that interferes with our biological timing. We’re constantly wondering, What e-mail did I just get? What’s on Twitter? ” he explains.
So how do we as a society begin to correct this problem? According to the author, through initiatives like Sleep Matters, "a partnership with corporations, businesses, and employers to promote a well-rested workforce."
"The aim is to spread the word that sleep is the third pillar of health, after exercise and nutrition."
So how many hours of sleep do you average each night?
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Finally, please let me know if you have any questions, or problems copying and pasting the link below into your browser so you can read the entire article.
http://www.rd.com/health/conditions/america-sleep-crisis/