Sleep dreams: seven of 10 Americans need better sleep. Sleep disorders are more common--and more dangerous--than many people realize.(Cover story)

SLEEP MEDICINE, ONE OF the newest medical subspecialties, is garnering a lot of attention these days. It's no wonder, when, according to the National Sleep Foundation, nearly seven out of every 10 Americans experience frequent sleep problems. Many people aren't even aware that poor sleep is causing their fatigue and other health problems.

Despite the fact that an estimated 90 percent of Americans with sleep disorders could sleep better, feel better and improve their overall health with treatment, sleep disorders are often under-diagnosed and their severity misunderstood.

The predominance of sleep disorders has significant consequences for business. The National Sleep Foundation estimates sleep disorders cost more than $100 billion a year in lost productivity, medical expenses, sick leave and property damage. Some industries are impacted more than others. Approximately 30 percent of truck drivers have sleep apnea--and don't know it until they've had "the big accident," says Dr. Marvin E. Vollmer, who is co-director of the Sleep/Wake Disorders Clinic at Community Health Network in Indianapolis and diplomate of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Further, approximately 25 percent of the workforce works the night shift or rotating shifts, both of which are known to wreak havoc with sleep patterns and are the subject of ongoing research.

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"Discoveries in the research lab often have a very quick application to the clinic, which is one reason [sleep medicine[ is such an exciting area," Vollmer says. "And, why it is so dynamic from a business point of view. As people did more research into sleep disorders, they started finding out that they explained a lot of medical problems that we had no answers for before."

Community Health Network has 24 beds in its five Indianapolis-area clinics. Around Indiana many sleep labs and clinics have opened to diagnose and treat a variety of sleep disorders. Here is a look at some of them and their treatments.

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