This may be true for most people, but sometimes snoring is a symptom of a disorder known as sleep apnea. This condition interrupts breathing during sleep. Sufferers of sleep apnea frequently snore, and in severe cases awaken several times during the night out of breath. Sleep apnea may have serious consequences. Snoring may also be associated with obesity, which can obstruct the airway.

Chronic snorers, especially those whose snoring is interrupted, should be examined by their physician to ensure that their nighttime noise is not caused by a potentially life-threatening problem.

Sleeping less than the amount you need not only makes you tired, it can be harmful to your health. Obesity, high blood pressure, depression, lowered productivity and mental alertness, even safety hazards are the consequences of too little sleep.  

These tactics can fool you; they may provide a momentary boost to alertness but a tired body soon stops noticing these stimuli, and you’re nodding off again. A more appropriate response to sleepiness while driving is to pull off the road in a protected area and take a nap, for at least 15 minutes. Even that is only a temporary measure. The only safe means of preventing the danger of drowsy driving is prevention: plenty of sleep the night before.

The teen who gets sleepy in class is not showing signs of laziness or inattention. Sleep experts report that adolescents require more sleep than the average adult — at least 8-1/2 to 9-1/2 hours every night, compared to 7 to 9 hours for a typical 30-year-old. One problem is that teenagers’ biological clocks are close to the adult rhythm, keeping them awake later in the evening and sleeping later in the morning hours. Because many schools begin classes in the early morning, these students may be chronically deficient in the sleep they need.

Difficulty falling asleep is but one of four symptoms associated with insomnia. The others include waking up too early and not being able to fall back asleep, frequent awakenings, and waking up feeling unrefreshed. Any of these types of insomnia may be a symptom of a sleep disorder or of another medical problem.

To the contrary, scientific studies have found a link between sleep and many health problems. For example, insufficient sleep affects the production of growth hormones related to weight maintenance. Cardiovascular problems, the potential for developing diabetes, and other disease states appear to be connected to poor sleep.    

It is the sleep pattern that seems to change as we get older, not the amount of sleep we need. Older people may wake more frequently through the night, but they tend to take more daytime naps.

In fact a great deal of mental activity takes place during certain stages of sleep. There are multiple stages in each 90-minute sleep cycle. Even in the deepest part of each cycle, the brain is processing information or dreaming. Scientists are still not sure why we dream, but it is known that the periods of brain activity serve a vital restorative function.

If you’ve ever awakened and told yourself you have to get back to sleep, you know how impossible this is. If you’re waiting to fall asleep and it doesn’t happen after about 15 minutes, you may want to get out of bed and find something relaxing to do. This may help you feel sleepy again, and then you can go back to bed.