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For Charlotte Wade, being diagnosed with a sleep disorder has helped her to not only sleep better but also gain energy and look better, she said.

Wade, 64, was diagnosed with sleep apnea in fall 2008 at Doctors Community Hospital's Sleep Center in Lanham. She is among thousands of people who have been diagnosed at the hospital's sleep center, which held an open house Tuesday in conjunction with National Sleep Awareness Week.

The week began Sunday and ends Saturday, the day before daylight saving time begins and clocks "spring" forward.

Sleep disorders are common and typically easy to diagnose and treat, said Dr. Riad Dakheel, a pulmonologist, sleep specialist and the medical director for the Doctors Community Hospital Sleep Center.

The center offered free sleep disorder screenings, tours and sleep study demonstrations during its open house.

Sleep apnea is the most notable sleep disorder — 4 to 8 percent of the adult population suffers from this disorder, which is when the throat muscle collapses and is preceded by loud snoring.

About one-third of American adults will complain of insomnia or poor sleep, Dakheel said. Restless leg syndrome is a common sleep disorder, whereas sleep walking, narcolepsy and REM behavior disorder, which causes someone to act out their dream while sleeping, are typically rare.

Dakheel recommends people get eight hours of sleep, adding, "It's not only quantity; it's quality."

A good night's sleep improves performance, recall, concentration and mood and decreases irritability, Dakheel said. Adequate sleep can also lower blood pressure, improve cardiovascular health and decrease risk for strokes.

Not enough sleep can be deadly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the result of driver fatigue, which results in 1,550 deaths nationwide each year, according to the Maryland State Highway Administration.

Treatment for sleep disorders may include sleep education, a sleep evaluation or oral medication and, for sleep apnea patients, a breathing device that prevents the throat from closing, Dakheel said.

"There is a lot of help," he said.

During the sleep demonstration Tuesday, Celeste Williams, the clinical coordinator for the hospital's sleep center, demonstrated in one of the center's 10 bedrooms how hospital technicians attach the nearly 20 electrodes to a patient before they go to sleep.

Patients are also given a nasal pressure device, which measures the snoring out of their nose and mouth, and a belt is placed across their chest and abdomen to measure the chest's rise and fall.

Sleep center patients arrive at 8:45 p.m. and stay until 6 a.m., aiming for six hours of monitored sleep, Williams said. Patients are monitored via video camera.

Wade said that before being diagnosed she got six to seven hours of sleep each night and now sleeps a full eight hours.

"It was really frustrating because I couldn't get comfortable, just the restlessness," Wade said. "[Now] people tell me I look better than I did before."

After her sleep study and diagnosis, Wade was given a breathing device, which she has used since.

"It forces air into your airway in case you stop breathing," said Wade, of Burtonsville. "It's so liberating — I started feeling more rested and I had more energy."

Dale Savoy, 46, of Greenbelt was diagnosed in October 2008 with sleep apnea after more than two years of loud snoring, choking and vomiting during his sleep. He wears a breathing device at night.

"I was ... gasping for air as though someone was holding me down and suffocating me," said Savoy, the hospital's telecommunications manager. "[Being diagnosed] improved everything. I feel safer and more relaxed than before. Before I only got three or four hours of sleep. Now I can sleep eight to 10 hours."

E-mail Liz Skalski eskalski@gazette.net.

-Although an upcoming school test or family quandary, for example, can cause restless nights, people should not become concerned about losing sleep until they are having trouble sleeping for at least a month.

-It takes most people, on average, 20 to 30 minutes to fall asleep.

-Most people need eight hours of sleep, give-or-take 15 minutes.

Source: Dr. Riad Dakheel, pulmonologist, sleep specialist and the medical director at the Doctors Community Hospital Sleep Center in Lanham