An estimated 40 million people suffer from chronic sleep disorders. Sleep disorders make it hard for people to sleep soundly at night, or stay awake during the day. Common sleep disorders include:

• Sleep Apnea: when a person stops and then starts breathing again many times throughout the night.
• Narcolepsy: when a person falls asleep suddenly many times a day.
• Chronic Insomnia: when a person has trouble falling asleep or staying asleep night after night.
• Restless Leg Syndrome: people experience "crawling" sensations in their legs whenever they lie down to sleep.
• Periodic Limb Movement Disorder: patients' legs or arms jerk repeatedly during sleep.
• Sleepwalking.

At the Faith Regional sleep Disorders Center, patients discuss sleep habits, lifestyles and health histories. A sleep study involves an overnight stay in a specially decorated room, much like one's own home, with devices attached to the patient to record sleeping patterns, breathing, oxygen levels, etc., and a heart monitor to detect problems during sleep.