- Snoring is a common problem, especially among men, but it isn’t harmful. Snoring, except for it's irritating noise that disturbs the sleep of everyone within hearing distance, isn't, in itself harmful. Sometimes it can be controlled by life style changes or devices available through your dentist.
However, snoring is often a symptom of a far worse disorder - sleep apnea. It's always safest, before seeking treatment of your snoring, to make sure you're not a victim of sleep apnea.
- You can “cheat” on the amount of sleep you get.
No matter what anyone tells you, skimping on your hours of sleep is dangerous to physical and mental health. Neither can a person 'catch up' on sleep. Once you miss those hours, they're gone forever.Many people, in these days of long hours of work and endless rounds of entertainment and distractions, are suffering from sleep deprivation. This causes numerous problems, from daytime sleepiness and drowsy driving to mental and physical health deterioration.
- Turning up the radio, opening the window, or turning on the air conditioner are effective ways to stay awake when driving.
These things may help you for a short time, but if you're sleepy, sooner or later your mind will block these things out and you'll fall asleep, doesn't matter if you're operating a car, a moving van or a jumbo jet.Driving when you're sleep deprived could get you or other drivers seriously injured or killed. It does, in fact, cause of as many as 567,000 vehicle crashes that cause 980 deaths and over $11 billion dollars a year.
- Teens who fall asleep in class have bad habits or are lazy.
Teens need lots of sleep - even more than adults. Sleep experts suggest 8.5 to 9.25 hours every night. However, with early classes, social and extracurricular activities and part-time jobs, many teens are getting far less sleep than they need.Teens aren't lazy and usually, the reason they fall asleep in class has nothing to do with bad habits. Most of them are suffering from sleep deprivation.
- Insomnia is characterized by difficulty falling asleep. This is, actually true. But difficulty in falling asleep is just one of the symptoms of insomnia. Insomnia has several systems and numerous causes. In fact, insomnia is usually a symptom of some other disease or disorder.
Ten Myths About Sleep
Compiled By the National Sleep Foundation
From About.com
Updated: June 20, 2006
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board
Faulty beliefs abound about sleep, so many in fact, that the National Sleep Foundation has compiled a list of the ten most common myths. In this article, we take a close look at each one and then discover the truth.
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