Sleep

The experts agree on the importance of it. Sleep rules everything in our life. That's Susan Harris. She's a nurse and sleep expert with the University of Nebraska extension. And she has spent much of her career studying sleep, educating and advising people about it.

This is my passion topic, and I'm always happy to talk about sleep and sleeplessness. Sleep rules everything in our life. It controls us physically, emotionally, socially, behaviorally, nutritionally, cognitively. Everything you can imagine. Sleep is like this overnight cleaning crew that goes into your brain and cleans it out and then it heads down into the basement and it repairs your organs and your muscles, rejuvenates them.

Harris says sleep renews our bodies. And in the opinion of her and many experts.

Sleep is the most underestimated and underutilized health aide in our modern society.

Harris says if everybody knew just some of the life enhancing properties of sleep, they would not underestimate it. What if you saw this ad for a special product as you were sitting up at 1:00 in the morning eating ice cream and cookies?

Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. That's why it helps keep your slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attack, strokes, not dementia, diabetes. However, there are serious side effects, including feeling happy or less depressed, less anxious.

And according to Harris, a number of researchers and the Centers for Disease Control, about a third of this country's population is not getting anywhere near the recommended amount of sleep. And Susan Harris says it's essentially another pandemic that we are experiencing, which in its way is killing thousands of people every year.