Introduction
Excessive daytime sleepiness is extremely common in our society. The most common cause by far is an inadequate amount of sleep. Most of us need about 8 hours or more to be fully rested. Surprisingly, many people do not actually recognize that they are sleepier than they should be. They become accustomed to being sleepy and consider it normal. You can help yourself determine if you are sleepier than normal by taking the Epworth Sleepiness Test. If you are sleepy despite getting an adequate number of hours of sleep, it is very likely that you have a sleep disorder. While there are a large number of such disorders, a few are much more common as a cause for sleepiness:
 Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
Restless Legs Syndrome/Periodic Leg Movement Disorder
Insomnia
Narcolepsy
Importance of daytime sleepiness in society
Dangerous sleepiness can occur in anyone, not just people with serious sleep disorders. A study by the Center for Traffic Safety at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center determined that as many as 15% of all vehicle accidents are due to falling asleep, or fatigue-related inattentiveness, at the wheel.
Traffic accidents are a major cause of death, injury and property loss. More and more studies are finding that falling asleep at the wheel is a major factor, perhaps the most important after alcohol, in causing traffic accidents. Fatigue-related traffic accidents usually involve no more than one or two vehicles. Yet, they are the most destructive of all to life and property, probably because the drivers are so inattentive that they do not slow down before the crash.
Modern day problems of sleep-related accidents extend beyond highway travel to industry as well. What is worrisome is that so many more people can be hurt by a sleepy or inattentive worker. For example, when a train driver or a nuclear power engineer falls asleep on the job, the result can be catastrophic. The nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl both arose from mistakes that occurred between midnight and 3 AM. And, the decision to launch, which lead to the Space Shuttle disaster on January 28, 1986, came during this same early morning peak in sleepiness. Moreover, the NASA officials involved in that decision were seriously overworked and sleep-deprived. Thus, on the road and in the work place, it is important to respect your sleep need and recognize the signs of excessive sleepiness, such as lapses in attention, which may actually be unintentional bouts of sleep.
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