Just as Dangerous as Driving Drunk: Driving Long Hours at Night

Approximately 20 percent of all traffic accidents can be attributed to prolonged nighttime highway driving, according to a study published in the Journal of Sleep Research. Being sleepy at the wheel can be a result of too few hours of zzz's; it can also be caused by medication. Drivers who were tested in this study showed significant impairment: They drove as badly --as dangerously-- as drivers who had been drinking. Two hours of nighttime driving was the equivalent of a blood alcohol level of .05; three hours, .08.

On a related note, here's a frightening statistic: According to the National Sleep Foundation, 37 percent of drivers in the United States admit to falling asleep at the wheel within the past year.

Sleepy? The best thing to do might be to leave the car at home and not risk being the cause of the next accident reported on the Beltway.

The Quest for Sleep

How about a good night's sleep? A perfect night's sleep, where from the moment your head touches the pillow to when the alarm sounds, all you feel and know are mellow dreams of beaches and snow-covered mountains. And when the alarm sounds, you wake up so refreshed, coffee isn't even in your thoughts.

Join us on Quest for Sleep, a new blog about exploration of sleep and insomnia, with a single destination in mind: a good night's sleep.

What's different about Quest for Sleep? There's no lack of information about getting a good night's sleep, but most of this information is one-size-fits-all: Do this or do that and you'll sleep better. But getting to sleep and staying asleep doesn't work that way. Using your bedroom only for sleep and sex (a prescription frequently offered) may work for some people, and may be impractical for others. Dimming the lights throughout your house or apartment might do the trick for some, but for others that advice might be as effective as a cup of coffee after several sleepless nights. Dialing down the temperature is something that helps some people; others just shiver all night long. Some people do well with medication, and others find that Ambien, Lunesta and other drugs turn them into perpetual zombies.

Quest for Sleep explores the paths that we can take to get to sleep and stay asleep. The destination is a good night's sleep, but how we get there makes the difference between success and failure. Visit Quest for Sleep at  www.questforsleep.com.

Sneak Preview: Quest for Sleep

Psst: A new blog about sleep and insomnia is coming: Quest for Sleep, www.questforsleep.com.

8 AM Parade in Brookland on Saturday. Say What?

DCist reports that there was a parade today in the Brookland neighborhood at 8am. The parade apparently was a "football parade." When you're woken up at 8am on a Saturday by a parade, there's not much else to do other than tweet about it, and here's how one early morning riser reported the parade: "Awoken by sirens and screaming and yelling. Was a football parade at 8am." Another surprised Brookland resident tweeted, "Can't believe there was a parade going through #Brookland at 8am this morning."

We're not entirely sure what a football parade is, but we are very sure that nobody should have a neighborhood parade at 8am on a weekend. Ever.

Tech Column: Use the Net to Get a Good Night's Sleep

Raise your hand --the one holding the coffee cup-- if you ever have trouble sleeping. 

I have good news:  The Internet will rescue everyone who has trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up, or who dreams about term papers and staff meetings instead of Hawaiian beaches.  And I'm not talking about using the Internet to read the Congressional Record online (though that's not a bad idea if you have trouble falling asleep.)  There are some great tools on the net for eliminating what ails your sleep without having to resort to reading the US budget.

Up high on the list of causes for insomnia is noise. Truck backup beeps, car alarms, dogs doing a tap dance on the floor of the apartment above, jet training exercises (the joy of living in Washington, DC), crows, snoring spouses, smoke detectors that shout "low bat" only between 1am and 6am -- all of these can make it hard to sleep.