New Poll: Millions of Americans Too Sleepy for Sex, Others Miss Work, Growing Number Fall Asleep at Wheel Because of Poor Sleep.

(From US Newswire)

Byline: RUNGRAWEE C. PINYORAT

To: National Desk

Contact: Betsy Murrett, 202-745-5107 or Bmurrett@gymr.com, Marcia Stein, 202-347-3471 ext. 205 or Mstein@sleepfoundation.org, Anne Nicholas, 202-347-3471 ext. 217 or Anicholas@sleepfoundation.org, all for the National Sleep Foundation

WASHINGTON, March 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the National Sleep Foundation:

Many of America's adults are sleeping poorly, and it's taking a serious toll on professional relationships, productivity, public safety and even the most intimate aspects of our lives, according to a new poll released today by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). The poll shows that sleep problems are widespread and on the rise, but they are often ignored.

NSF's Sleep in America poll finds 75 percent of adults frequently have a symptom of a sleep problem such as waking a lot during the night, or snoring. Although they say they have these symptoms, most ignore them and few think they actually have a sleep problem. Many adults say they are often tired, fatigued or don't feel up to par; they are not satisfied with the quality of their sleep, but most don't take steps to improve it. Only about one-half of respondents are able to say on most nights, "I had a good night's sleep."

Poor sleep and sleepiness cause disruptions in nearly every facet of one's life.

-- 60 percent of adults licensed to drive say they have driven drowsy in the past year, an increase over recent years; 4 percent have had an accident or near accident because they were too tired, or actually dozed off while driving.

-- Sleep-related issues are cited as the most common reason people are late for work. Almost 3 in 10 working adults say they have missed work, events/activities or made errors at work because of sleep-related issues in the past three months.

-- For partnered adults, sleep problems are doubly disruptive, as one partner's sleep problem can cause the other to lose, on average, nearly an hour of sleep a night.

One or both partners are…