Fatigue is a national epidemic. According to Dr.Donna Arand, Clinical Director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Kettering Medical Center in Dayton Ohio, who was recently interviewed by Whole Living Magazine, over 50 million Americans suffer from a sleep disorder, which can include difficulty in falling to sleep, difficulty in staying asleep or early awakening.

Sleep is not a luxury. An increasing body of research shows that sleep is an important component of good health. Many people are unaware of the potentially grave health effects of inadequate amounts of sleep. Consider these health risks:

A good night's sleep can reduce your risk of developing diabetes. The Natural Solutions website recently quoted scientists at the University of Buffalo who found that people who sleep fewer than six hours a night during the work week are 4.5 times more likely to have elevated levels of blood sugar than those who sleep six to eight hours. Inadequate sleep activates the stress response, which can lead to insulin resistance.

Depriving yourself of sleep may stimulate the stress response, which could elevate your blood pressure. In the Whole Living Magazine article, "Take Sleep to Heart", researchers discovered that women who slept five hours or less nightly were twice as likely to have high blood pressure as women who snoozed for seven hours or more.

And there's more. A recent study published in the August 2010 issue of the Sleep Journal suggests that regularly sleeping for less than seven hours per day increased the risk for cardiovascular disease. Participants in this study who reported sleeping five hours or less per day had a risk for any cardiovascular disease, i.e. heart attack, stroke, coronary heart disease and angina, more than two times higher than people who reported sleeping seven hours each night.

Did you know that your sleepiness could be a public hazard? The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reports that about one in six fatal accidents involves a drowsy driver. Approximately two out of every five drivers admit to drifting to sleep behind the wheel at some point in their lives. About 10 percent nodded off while driving within the past year. In an interview in the March 2010 issue of the Sleep Journal, researcher David Dinges states that, "reduced cognitive abilities can occur even with a moderate reduction in sleep, like driving"...impairments include reduced ability to think quickly and not make mistakes and a reduced ability to multi-task.

So how much sleep do we need? Experts who contribute to the website, sleepeducation.com , suggest that most men and women need about seven to eight hours of sleep each night. But can you "catch up" on sleep on your days off after a sleep deprived week of work? Not really. Sleep debt can add up and because most people can't sleep for more than 10 hours at a time, it is impossible to close the gap in one or two nights. Researchers discovered the impairments linked to sleep-deprivation such as lapses in attention and delayed reaction time can remain even after a long night of recovery sleep. It may take multiple nights to find full relief from extended sleep deprivation.

Be sure sleep is a priority. Getting enough sleep will play a vital role in your health and well being. With enough daily sleep, you will enjoy the benefits of feeling alert and feeling well rested.