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Toronto researchers gleam insight into rare sleep disorder

Researchers at the Sleep Research Laboratory at Toronto Western Hospital have made inroads into science's understanding of sexsomnia, a disorder which causes people to be in a state of semi-arousal while asleep. As reported by the New York Times, the Toronto scientists conducted one of the first studies that attempts to determine the percentage sexsomnia sufferers among patients with sleep disorders. After reviewing 832 patients seeking help at the hospital's Sleep Laboratory, the Western Hospital researchers found that 7.6 percent of patients reported some form of sexsomnia.

"The study, which has not yet been published, is among the first to try to quantify how prevalent sexsomnia is among patients with sleep problems. (An abstract was to be presented Monday in San Antonio at Sleep 2010, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.)"

"The author, Sharon A. Chung, a scientist at the Sleep Research Laboratory at Toronto Western Hospital, says the behavior becomes a problem when it disrupts the normal sleep cycle."

"At night you're supposed to be sleeping," she said in an interview. "Anything that stops you from sleeping at night is bad � not because of the behavior, because it stops you from sleeping."

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original source the New York Times
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