Sleep for many is an illusive thing, making life very difficult and for some few the inability to sleep can be so complete that it leads to death. This fatal and extremely rare sleeping disease is called Fatal Familial Insomnia (IFF). Thankfully, for most people suffering from sleep disorders, there are a variety of remedies that may be tried to isolate the cause of the problem and then treat it. This is done, for the most troubled sleepers, in sleep clinics and centers. The market size listed below is an industry estimate of what those clinics and sleep centers will earn in 2011. Another interesting item related to sleep, in 2008, 56 million prescriptions for sleeping pills were written in the United States, representing a sharp increase over the preceding years.

Wishing you sweet dreams.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market size: $4.5 billion
Source: Max D. T., “The Secrets of Sleep,” National Geographic, May 2010, page 81.