March 3-9 is National Sleep Awareness Week

The National Sleep Foundation, whose goal is make the public aware of the life and death importance of sleep, has designated this week as National Sleep Awareness Week.

If you have trouble sleeping and are often exhausted for "no reason," I urge you to go to their Web site and educate yourself about the importance of sleep in your daily life. Sleep, or lack thereof, greatly affects your health, mood, driving ability and job performance. It is important to know the difference between being normally tired and having a sleeping disorder.

Sleep disorders often go undiagnosed for years. I've heard, "It's normal to be tired; you work and have kids." "How late do you stay up at night?" "You're no different from anyone else," and here's the best one, "You're a middle-age woman getting ready to go through menopause. It's normal to gain weight and be tired."

EXCUSE ME????!!! It is NOT normal to fall asleep in your car while sitting at a red light, or to fall asleep standing up, only to be jolted awake by buckling knees. It is NOT normal to think you are awake in a meeting or classroom because you can hear someone talking in a faroff voice, yet when a sudden word or noise jolts you back to consciousness, you realize you were really sleeping and didn't absorb anything that was said. It is NOT normal to converse with your spouse at night (and THINK you are being attentive), only to have him say, "Let's go to bed. You're eyes are rolling up into the back of your head."

I've had doctors prescribe "get more exercise"; walk a mile a day before work to jump-start my energy. I stayed with early morning two mile walks for three months. The results of that walking put me to sleep at my desk FASTER and earlier than before the exercise. I gained more weight because I was eating sweets and candy to keep me awake during the day. The sugar-rush would last less than 30 minutes and my brain would shutdown again; it didn't want sugar - which my body stored - it wanted sleep.

Getting doctors to prescribe sleep studies can be frustrating and insurance companies balk at the expense , but sleep studies are necessary tools in identifying sleeping disorders.

So, check out the NSF's Great American Sleep Challenge: Take the quizes, read the FAQs, and educate yourself about the topic of sleep. It's important.