Slipping off to the Land of Nod does more than just rest the weary brain and your tired toes. In this article from The Dallas Morning News, Dr. Nilesh Davé, medical director of the Sleep and Breathing Disorders Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, offers five reasons why we should make every effort to get the best sleep possible every night.

1. Fitness and Sleep. Stanford Sleep Disorder Clinic and Research Laboratory found in a 2008 study that swimmers who obtained additional hours of sleep (beyond their normal amount) actually became better athletes. Swim time, reaction time, turn time and kick strokes all improved. Studies in other sports support the same findings. However, studies published in Runner's World link on-going sleep deprivation to a decrease in athletic performance.
2. Growth and Sleep. Sleep is prime time for certain essential hormones to release into the body, including those necessary for growth. Cortisol is one hormone that peaks around 4 a.m., but if we do not get enough sleep our body produces too much cortisol. This leads to higher blood pressure, an increase in blood sugar, as well as an increase in appetite. When we are sleep deprived, leptin -- a hormone that tells the brain when we are full -- does not sufficiently produce; and therefore, our body thinks it is still hungry when in actuality it has had plenty of food.
   
3. Memory and Sleep. Remember pulling all-nighters in college cramming for an exam? You would ace the exam but not remember anything the next day. That is because sleep is essential for long-term memory recall.
   
4. Driving and Sleep. A 2006 study by the National Sleep Foundation and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute revealed the following alarming statistic: 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some sort of "driver inattention." According to the study, most drivers claimed lack of sleep as the culprit. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 200,000 sleep-related car accidents occur each year with as many as 1,500 fatal injuries.
   
5. Mood and Sleep. It is no secret that well-rested people are happier people. We all feel crabby when we do not get enough sleep. Rest can work wonders on our mood, and therefore all aspects of our lives.
   

Check in tomorrow to learn what your sleeping position says about your personality.

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I used to live in the southern, more metropolitan, part of my state. I dreaded the holiday weekends when, like everyone else on the road, I was battling the northbound traffic. I used to think of different plans -- I'll leave late, late, late on Friday night or I'll wake up at 5 am and hit the road. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one coming up with those plans to beat the traffic, and I was usually stuck anyway.

Not surprisingly, my late night/early morning commutes weren't very safe. According to the National Sleep Foundation, far too many Americans are too tired to drive safely. In a recent poll, 36% of respondents admitted to either feeling drowsy while driving or actually falling asleep at the wheel. Driving at odd hours to beat traffic just increases the risk of driving while you're not alert.

So be careful this weekend -- don't get behind the wheel if you're not at your best.

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I know I've been guilty of being tired behind the wheel on a few occasions. There's nothing scarier than the head-drop that occurs while behind the wheel, causing you to instantly wake up in a panic.

And it seems as though I'm far from being the only tired driver on the road. According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 32 million people admit to have actually fallen asleep at the wheel within the past year. Estimates as high as 100,000 reflect the number of crashes that occur in the U.S. as a result of sleep-related driving, killing more than 1,500 people annually.

So, the next time your eyelids start to get heavy while driving, don't try to soldier through the state of drowsiness. Instead, pull off the road and take a short break; it can sometimes mean the difference between a safe ride home and a terrible accident.

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Teens are laying down to sleep each night with an electronic halo of gadgets. The computer monitor is the new night light. A nearby cell phone incessantly vibrates with late calls and text messages. Ears are stuffed with an iPod and hands cradle a computer game. A television flickers late night cable.

Sleep experts are warning this rising tide of electronic gadgetry is undermining teenage sleep. They're growing up on junk food and junk sleep. Not only can the gadgets potentially disrupt sleeping teens periodically throughout the night, they keep kids from hitting the pillow at a decent hour as they roam MySpace and reply to another text message.

In a 2006 National Sleep Foundation survey, teens with four or more electronics in their bedroom were significantly more likely than peers to get insufficient sleep. Only 20 percent of American teens report getting the minimum nine hours of sleep required by this age group. There's no way I could resist a computer in the bedroom -- I'm already a daytime e:mail junkie. I agree my sleep is not as restful when the cell phone vibrates a wrong number at 3:30 am. Are gadgets junking up your sleep?

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If your kids are like mine, then the last few weeks have been a free-for-all of playing outside, hitting the beach, and enjoying every last drop of summer that August has to offer. But September is looming, and with it comes new, more rigid, schedules and a more demanding routine. It can be a difficult adjustment for some children, but parents can make it easier by easing kids into a new sleep schedule now, while school is still a few weeks away.

The National Sleep Foundation recommends gradually changing children's sleep/wake times about 10 days to 2 weeks before the start of school. They also suggest keeping a consistent bedtime routine, limiting electronics in the bedroom and 1/2 hour before bedtime, and helping kids to get plenty of good nutrition and exercise. Parents also make good role models, they say, so if your sleep habits need addressing, now might be a good time to start. Read more about the NSF's recommendations for kids and adults here, and help everyone in your home get a good night's sleep!

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