The Promise of Sleep: A Pioneer in Sleep Medicine Explores the Vital Connection Between Health, Happiness, and a Good Night's Sleep

* Abridged audiobook review *Dr. William Dement was a pioneer in sleep research and has continued to be a leader in the field for over four decades, so this book is about as authoritative as you can get, though of course that still doesn't guarantee that he's right about everything.The book contains plenty of useful information on a largely neglected topic, and this information can literally change (or save) your life if you act on it, particularly if you're not currently sleeping well. The main lesson is that you absolutely must get enough quality sleep to have a good quality and quantity of life, and to avoid accidents related to sleepiness. This means avoiding accumulation of excessive 'sleep debt', along with getting help from a sleep specialist if you have a significant sleep disorder.In the audiobook, Dement goes into quite a bit of detail in describing how sleep research findings were arrived at and their corresponding limitations, and I assume that's even more the case in the print book. A benefit of these details is that they'll be helpful to physicians unfamiliar with sleep research, as well as other serious readers who want all the nitty gritty. But a drawback is that the details go far beyond what most people need from a practical standpoint, so I think a much shorter book would have worked better for a general audience, with a focus on telling people what they need to do rather than all the reasons why.Overall, this is a useful book and I can recommend it, but I'll myself next be looking for a sleep book which is more recent, shorter, and more pragmatic.

I should have read Dr. William Dement's classic, The Promise Of Sleep, many years ago. Perhaps the sheer size (almost 500 pages with minimal pictures) was somewhat intimidating, but I finally ordered a used copy off of Amazon, and found myself completely engrossed. I finished it while communting back and forth on the train in one week. It was written in 1999, but most of his information still holds true. The sad thing is that despite all warnings about the dangers of untreated sleep disorders and a call to all primary care physicians to wake up to the countless numbers of sleep deprived people who are literally killing themselves, not much has changed, from what I can see. Even in medical schools today, very little time is devoted to sleep medicine.This book is Dr. Dement's personal plea to everyone in this country to take sleep problems seriously. As the father of sleep medicine, he and a handful of sleep medicine pioneers created this new specialty within the past few decades. He switches back and forth between laugh-out-loud and hilarious accounts as a sleep researcher to heart-breaking stories of numerous people who died from easily preventable causes.I was attracted to this book to discover what he had to say about obstructive sleep apnea, but ended up being more fascinated by his descriptions of all the other various sleep disorders. His repetitive reminders about the importance of a cumulative sleep debt along with alerting cycles is an important concept that everyone should know about. His description of circadian rhythm disorders and adjusting to time zone differences is clear and easy to understand--by far the best that I've seen to date. At the end of the book, I expected to see the standard laundry list of sleep hygiene issues that all other books talk about. I was wrong. He gave balanced, common-sense reasons for why these recommendations are usually made, but leaves plenty of room for flexibility and adjustment for individual differences.Dr. Dement's book should be required reading for all medical students, physicians, and the lay public alike (in addition to my book, Sleep, Interrupted).

The author marvels about how something that is so important, sleep, could be so overlooked by the medical community and by the public. By the time you have read this book you will be amazed by how little you knew about something so important as your sleep. This is without a doubt the best book on sleep available. The only downside is that it is long, and some people may not have the motivation or discipline to finish it. The many biographical notes by the author increases the length, and the book repeats itself. Nevertheless, this is vitally important information. I was surprised about many misconceptions I had about sleep which I believe have been quite detrimental to me. For example, I had no idea of the concept of sleep debt -- that you must "pay back" the hours you are awake by sleeping at the rate of about 1 hour per 2 hours awake (the exact rate depends on the individual) -- and that for the most sleep debt carries over from night to night. For example, if you have a large sleep debt, then sleeping 8 hours a night for a week will not make it go away, you will continue to be the run-down the whole week and you need to sleep more than 8 hours a day to pay that debt back. The book shatters many terrible misconceptions -- such as the being sleepy is evidence that you slept too much, when in fact it is evidence you need to sleep more. It also explains the mistaken belief most people and doctors have that sleeping pills are addictive, cause dependence, and can even result in overdose (the ones from 30 to 40 years did, but today's don't). It explains how snoring is probably evidence of a very common and very serious disorder (sleep apnea), which, when treated can improve the quality of your life tremendously. It also provides a section, late in the book, to help you diagnose and understand your own sleep and sleep problems. Extremely enlightening book and on an overlooked and crucially important subject. Understanding and application of the information in this book truly has the power to improve, and in many cases, save your life. Don't hesitate to buy it, and follow up by reading it all.

I certainly know a lot more than I did a month ago about what has been learned in sleep research in the past 100 years. But I'm not sure I'm going to get better sleep because of it. (Maybe the book was meant to put me to sleep...! Just kidding.) I haven't yet finished the book, but unless Dement has a powerful secret hidden in the last chapter or two, I am going to be disappointed. It is VERY clear from this writing that the author considers inadequate sleep to be a major public health and safety issue. But for all that, so far he is short on workable solutions...at least for me.

i am presently reading this book. Since I am just getting in to it, can't truly give a reasonable review until I finish it. So far, it has been informative, very interesting to read. The author appears to me to be very knowledgeable on the science of sleep!

Not far into this but it has already got me captured in the moment of reading abit every night. Big book so plenty to get through. Bought second hand but still in great condition

A must read book by every Medical professional, and all who want to know about sleep. All the experiences of Sir William C Dement his experimentsand discoveries of sleep have been described very interestingly. Sir Dement has given a synopsis of his life time work and research on Sleep in a very concise book.I recommend this book to ENT, Neurophysicians, General Medicine, Emergency medicine, Cardiologist and every medical fraternity must read book.

Excellent book, great seller and amazing service. If you suffer from a sleep disorder this is a must. Its out of print but you can find it second hand on amazon at a great price.