Helping patients and their families get some rest by John Garcia, MD, Laurel Wills, MD Over the past two decades, awareness and appreciation of sleep disorders and their effects have virtually exploded.
Sleep is of the brain and for the brain.
Although the functions of sleep remain unknown, it is clear that the organ responsible for generating sleep and the only organ served by sleep is the brain. Another indisputable fact is that sleep is vital for existence. Much has been learned about the nature of sleep and wakefulness, and a wide variety of sleep disorders have been identified. When these disorders go unrecognized or untreated, the personal and societal consequences can be catastrophic. Therefore, it is important for practicing physicians to be aware of these disorders and to take sleep-wake complaints very seriously, particularly given the prevalence of sleep complaints among the general population.