Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/qw5OQrPXXHE   Sleep problems affect as many as 70 million Americans.  The problem is worsening over the past 4 years as 5 million more of us generally considered to be healthy sleepers have a problem falling asleep and nearly 8 million more of us cannot remain asleep.   Investigators at Iowa State University studied sleep pattern data from about 165,000 subjects.  Though the results failed to definitely pinpoint a cause, they speculate that technology is playing a key role.  That includes smartphone use before bedtime and electronic notifications interrupting sleep.    Sleep is critical for the daily rejuvenation of our bodies and their component cells.  Though technology interrupts it, newer wearables permit evaluation of sleep quality in order to effect improvement     Garrett C. Hisler, Diana Muranovic, Zlatan Krizan. Changes in sleep difficulties among the U.S. population from 2013 to 2017: results from the National Health Interview Survey. Sleep Health, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.sle