| Abstrakt: |
Daytime sleepiness is the primary complaint of patients who present to sleep clinics. Although the actual prevalence of clinically relevant sleepiness in America is unknown, it has been estimated that significant sleep loss exists in up to one-third or more of normal adults (1,2). Sleepiness has an important impact on general health and functional status, influencing how individuals perceive their energy and fatigue levels (3). Sleep deprivation and sleepiness in general have been associated with poor job performance, anxiety, difficulties in personal relations, and an increased risk for fatal and nonfatal automobile accidents, daytime sleepiness resulting from chronic partial or total sleep deprivation has been demonstrated to result in neurocognitive deficits and alterations in mood, and more recently to cause alterations in physiological and endocrine functions (4-26). Sleep deprivation has also been directly or indirectly linked to several recent catastrophes including the Exxon Valdez oil spill, space shuttle Challenger explosion, and the Three Mile Island near-meltdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
