Anthony Fenech is the owner of Titan Training. He is a Can Fit certified personal trainer. He manages Bigtyme Fitness and is a nutritional consultant with Popeye's Supplements Orangeville. He can be reached at 519 217-6462 or check out www.titantraininggear.com. The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.

It's impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.

REM sleep occurs in bursts totalling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep.

Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is similar to watching a film.

Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off of Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.

Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn't wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle.

Ducks, at risk of attack by predators, are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.

Some studies suggest women need up to an hour's extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.

1 0 0 , 0 0 0 auto accidents occur each year because of fall-asleep crashes. Certain supplements like melatonin, ZMA , 5HTP, Valerian root and magnesium can all assist in a good nights sleep and are available at your local health food store.