There is an excellent 90-minute video documentary on the National Geographic Channel on sleep and sleep apnea. This documentary, entitled “Sleepless in America,” also produced by the National Institutes of Health and The Public Good Projects, is an analysis of American sleep patterns.

According to the program, 40% of American adults are sleep deprived. Here is the link to the full program on the National Geographic site:

. . . or, you can watch the YouTube version here:

If you go to 42:26 in the video you will see a very good explanation of obstructive sleep apnea. (OSA).  In this clip, the National Transportation Safety Board studies the causes of trucking accidents with an interest in decreasing these tragic accidents. They concluded that about 28% of truck drivers have OSA, with a significant percentage of them being undiagnosed. This predisposes to driving fatigue and is felt to be a major, preventable cause of trucking accidents.

There is also discussion of CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) used as the initial recommendation for treating OSA. In their review, only about 50% of people who try CPAP continue to use it on a regular basis. This is astounding! That means that the other 50% of folks are likely not treating their sleep apnea at

If you or someone you know is in need of a better night’s sleep, contact us for a no obligation consultation. We are the sleep specialists at Chevy Chase ENT located in the Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. metro area dealing with sleep apnea and sleep-related problems.  We can help diagnose your condition, recommend whether a sleep study would be beneficial, and offer you a variety of treatment options including CPAP, Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) and more.