One of my colleagues has the kind of job you might see on a television crime series like CSI. He is a physician who specializes in forensic sleep medicine. In English, he is an expert in crimes committed while the suspect purportedly remains asleep.

As an example, occasionally there are murderers who may suggest that their crime was done while sleeping, the deed part of a vivid dream. This may be an attempt to avoid punishment, or based in fact. Careful assessment must occur to see if this individual has a sleep disorder that might allow this to happen.

Curiously, there are specific sleep disorders like parasomnias and REM behavior disorder that may allow unconscious crimes. It is thought possible for areas of the brain controlling actions to be active while other parts controlling consciousness remain asleep. Most of us are paralyzed during dreams, but if this system malfunctions we may act things out inappropriately.

Therefore, in some sleep disorders the person may feel asleep but still be able to do things, including complex actions like eating, driving, or even murder. An accused criminal would need to demonstrate on a sleep study that they have an impaired control system that would allow dream-enactment behaviors.

Such phenomena gives more evidence to my belief that sleep is fascinating -- and that one should be wary of things that go bump in the night.

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Once in a while I run across news stories that catch my eye solely due to my interest in sleep. In this spirit, today I encountered a story about a professional golfer who overslept -- with some major consequences.

It happens to nearly everyone at some point, and today PGA golfer Jim Furyk overslept. He was reliant upon his cell phone's alarm clock to awaken him, but the battery must have gone dead because it did not. Instead, he awoke at 7:23 a.m. and rushed to Ridgewood golf course, arriving five minutes after his scheduled tee time. He was therefore disqualified from the tournament. He had been in 3rd place with potential tournament prize winnings of $10 million.

This is apparently the second time Furyk has overslept and missed his early tee time. He may benefit from some advice to improve sleep habits. Moreover, he may want to determine his sleep needs and then he could eliminate the alarm clock. In the meanwhile, he'll likely be arranging a wake-up call.

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According to an article in The New York Times, additional research suggests that the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome may be a virus.

In a study published in the fall of 2009, evidence was presented suggesting chronic fatigue syndrome may be due to a retrovirus. A retrovirus uses a cell's reproductive machinery to make copies of itself, as occurs with the familiar retrovirus called HIV. Now, a new study found the MRV-related virus in the blood cells of 32 out of 37 of those afflicted with chronic fatigue, while not finding it as frequently in controls who were not.

This likely represents an important piece of a puzzle that has yet to be solved and hopefully marks an opportunity to begin developing treatment options for this debilitating condition.

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If you have ever had a sleep problem, you may have had a range of emotions associated with it, not the least of which may be a social consequence: embarrassment.

Sleep is a time when we feel somewhat out of control, when our subconscious mind seems to take over. This is a relief, mostly, but for some a source of stress. You can't control what you do when you doze off, but what if this matters? How can you be accountable for actions done while you sleep? Who can be let in to the inner circle and know about the strange things you do while sleeping?

Sleep disturbances may vary from the commonplace (such as snoring) to the downright bizarre (including behaviors like sleep eating, sleep terrors, and any range of activities). If you can do it while awake, you can do it while asleep. One marvels at the possibilities! In many ways these issues may not matter, especially if you sleep alone, but sometimes they will. That loud snoring becomes an issue in the hunting camp; sleep walking is problematic in the college dorms; sleep attacks and collapses of narcolepsy draw curious glances. For those who use CPAP, the machine may make you feel less intimate and even less attractive.

For those with sleep disorders, how does your sleep problem embarrass you? Feel free to comment below or share your experiences in the forum. Sharing with others is an excellent chance to learn coping techniques and to realize that you are not alone.

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