Imran I Ali.
Clinical applications of Polysomnography.
Pak J Neurological Sci Jan ;1(2):79-83.

Sleep is an important aspect of daily life for all of us. Disruption of a normal sleep wake cycle can lead to significant alteration of brain function. If prolonged or sustained this disruption can have significant social and medical consequences. In an era of increasing societal demands on individuals the amount of time available for sleep has been reduced significantly. The consequence of increasing sleep debt leads to reduced energy, fatigue, excessive daytime sleepiness and poor performance on tasks requiring attention and concentration. Interestingly, catastrophic accidents blamed on human error such as Exxon Valdez oil spill have most often occurred at times of greatest sleepiness and fatigue (which is usually between midnight and 8 am, as was the case with this disaster). Motor vehicle accidents are also more likely in patients who are sleep deprived with an extremely high mortality rate. The impact of sleep deprivation on performance of health care workers has been well researched2 and in the United States rules have been enacted by the accreditation bodies to limit the amount of time physician in training can work without sleep. This is a review article.

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