The Promise of Sleep

Healthful sleep has been empirically proven to be the single most important factor in predicting longevity, more influential than diet, exercise, or heredity. And yet we are a sleep-sick society, ignorant of the facts of sleep – and the price of sleep deprivation. Dr. William Dement, founder and director of the Stanford University Sleep Research Center, takes us on a fascinating tour of the sleeping body and mind, revealing the price we pay for ignoring sleep – an epidemic of heart disease, 33 percent of traffic-fatigue related accidents, and immeasurable mental and psychological disadvantages. Dr. Dement offers a hands-on prescription for vibrant good health and longevity, including: self-tests to determine how much sleep you really need; information on the role of prescription and over-the-counter sleeping aids; the latest research on how sleep affects the immune system; how to combat insomnia, snoring, jet-lag; and much more.