1. I work with author T.S. Wiley, who wrote Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival. The book changed my life. I was fatigued, my adrenals were at 13 percent, and I had gained alot of weight in a short time. Wiley offers clearly researched information on why we need to sleep. And tips to help. Think about it: electricity has been around only since the turn of the century, and we now sleep only 6 hrs on avergae compared to 10 to 14 hours when there was less light. Sleep is the best prescription for health.

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2. I’d like to see more of these articles acknowledge that there are people who suffer these same problems when forced to be awake during the day. I have Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder. I’ve been a stay at home dad since my daughter was born in 2003. I've felt like crud the whole time because I have to get up at my natural bed time of 7 AM. On weekends and during school breaks when my teacher wife is home I stay up all night just to feel normal for a little while. I’ve gained weight, I get sick more often, and my knees and back cause me great pain most of the time. All these problems are due to not following MY rhythms.

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3. In the 70s, I worked nights as a direct care aide for 3.5 years. Every part of you suffers-- circadian rhythms, gastro-intestinal system, mood and outlook... it's hard to realize it at first. Most people smoked cigarettes and drank 12 cups of coffee to stay awake. I got thin and pale, but I was young and the look was in vogue. I switched to days asap, but I think I was changed forever. On the positive side, it showed me life in a different way. Eventually I wrote a novel, "Living at Night," a metaphor for life in the margins.

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4. As a former 911 operator, I can attest to the difficulty of getting adequate rest while performing shift work ranging from 12 to 16 hours daily for two to three days in a row. I preferred working graveyard shift, from 6 pm to 6:30 am, but I can tell you that I would sleep for almost an entire day when I was off duty. I was alert when present at my answering position, it was when I got home that I could do nothing more than sleep. Shift work takes getting used to and having a healthy diet, exercising and getting adequate rest are essential to health- in any job, on any schedule.

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5. Hey, everyone, next time you fly, think about the fact that air traffic controllers almost never work the same shift two days in a row. Their week usually starts with a shift that begins in the afternoon, then they work their way back toward a graveyard shift through the week. Earlier every day. Try that out on your circadian rhythms. Makes for some alert people with a whole lot of responsibility on their hands!

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6. I can not understand why culture or patients demand for over tired workers. I know we have to be on top of decision making even if sleep deprived. Anyway I love my sleep.

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7. How did the medical profession take care of their patients before there were electric lights and "false daylight?" Isn't sleep just as important for people who are sick and in the hospital? Is it possible that it might be better for most patients just to be left alone and sleeping in the night so that they can heal, detoxify, rest, as well? i don't know, but I'd like to hear some medical opinions...it's a little scary to think that our cultural/medical response to sleep deprivation is to try to change the body even more, at more and more delicate and poorly understood levels, with hormone therapy of all things.

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8. What about those of us who actually prefer night work. I have always had trouble getting up in the morning and working a normal schedule as i would wake about around 8:00 pm at night. Found a job were I could set my own schedule (usually worked 6:00 pm to about 5:00 am) and went to bed. Had no problems at all. Then we had to switch to working days and it is awful. All the problems you mentioned about nightwork are happening. I guess some of us are just wired differently.

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9. 4-6 hours of sleep a day? What about medical students, interns and residents? They often have 2 hours of sleep at most in the course of 48 hours for about 4-6 years of med school and residency. It's a practice of a consistent, system promoted, culture glorified sleep deprivation. Whoever's brightest idea was it to have tired, sleep deprived doctors working on their patients is beyond me.

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10. Does this mean a change in the 80 hour work rule for surgery residents? Less working hours? The end of 30 hour straight sleepless shift work? Highly doubt it because the culture and patients forbid it. Damn shame that those in charge of taking care of sick people are killing themselves slowly.

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