Excessive Sleepiness Spells Trouble

Oftentimes, extreme daytime sleepiness is a key sign of disturbed or poor sleep. A newstudy, reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (August 2005), foundthat daytime sleepiness also can indicate depression or even diabetes, regardless of howwell an individual sleeps.

The researchers based their findings on a study of 16,500 men and women ranging in agefrom 20 to 100 years old from central Pennsylvania. Of the participants, 8.7% experiencedexcessive daytime sleepiness. The investigators discovered that excessive daytime sleepinesswas more strongly connected with depression and obesity or metabolic factors,compared with sleep-disordered breathing or sleep disruption. The results of the study alsoidentified a strong association between excessive daytime sleepiness and diabetes.