Yesterday, Emmanuel Mignot, MD, PhD, director of the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine, introduced the Stanford Sleep Blog, which is being published by the Huffington Post. In the inaugural post, Mignot describes the importance of better understanding sleep and the goal for launching this blog:
Sleep is a window to our general health and a very mysterious process that still mystifies scientists today. Almost a quarter of the population has sleep issues, and these can affect many organs in our body: the brain, of course, but also the heart and many others. It is truly a trans-disciplinary field. Sleep issues can be trivial (why do we jerk when we fall asleep?), cause enormous suffering (insomnia), or have lethal consequences (falling asleep at the wheel). Finally, too much of what is written on sleep and sleep problems in the press is either not accurate or sensationalized. Sleep problems affect real people, and the information available often washes out the complexities of sleep problems at the individual level.
In the weeks and months to come, various sleep experts from Stanford University will attempt to bridge these gaps here, alternating between the presentations of real sleep medicine cases, with favorable or unfavorable resolution, and scientific discussions on sleep and sleep disorders that will cover general background or news. Our goal will not be simply to inform but also to teach not only what we know but also what we don't know. We come to this subject with an educated and critical eye.
Mignot goes on to explain Stanford’s rich history of sleep research and describe how the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences was established to address recent changes in the field. We invite readers to check in on the blog regularly for a deeper understanding of sleep issues.
Previously: Study: Parents may not be as sleep-deprived as they think, Exploring the effect of sleep loss on health, How lack of sleep affects the brain and may increase appetite, weight gain, CDC report highlights the dangers of sleep deprivation and Sleep deprivation may increase young adults’ risk of mental distress, obesity
Photo by Chris March
