The report states due to less sleep, Americans are becoming more susceptible to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and depression.

Bethesda’s Health Promotions Director Chad Board said obesity and high stress have also been linked to significant sleep loss. Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to stress and not finding appropriate ways to cope with it, he said.

‘‘Stress can interfere with sleep patterns,” Board said. ‘‘It can affect your ability to feel rested, which in turn can affect productivity and health.”

Cmdr. Mark Miller, Chief for the National Naval Medical Center’s Sleep Services Department, agreed with the report. He said chronic sleep loss can adversely affect an individual’s overall health and mental well being.

Sleep deprived individuals don’t handle stressful situations as well as those who receive adequate sleep, Miller said. The problem is cyclic he said. High stress can lead to insomnia, which can lead to more sleep problems.

Miller said studies have shown that college students and doctors make up a large demographic of individuals who are at risk for high blood pressure and diabetes due to their prominence for sleep issues.

‘‘Limiting college students to four hours of sleep four nights a week actually increases their insulin resistance,” Miller said. ‘‘Residency training was associated with chronic sleep loss so provisions were made to allow trainees adequate amounts of sleep.”

Studies have shown that sleep deprivation is the number one contributor to most day time automobile and work related accidents, Miller said. He said almost half of Americans surveyed have admitted to falling asleep while driving.

Sleep deprivation has also been known to hinder a doctor’s ability to perform his job adequately, he said.

‘‘For physicians, you risk making medication errors,” Miller said. ‘‘Even diagnostic or therapeutic errors can be made.”

Miller said people have sought different methods in dealing with drowsiness. He said some of the popular remedies such as caffeine based beverages, energy drinks and medications can provide a temporary boost in energy, but ultimately make situations worse.

The use of these items could cause a greater disturbance in an individuals rest cycle he said.

‘‘None of them actually restore the brain to the functional level it has when it is receiving adequate sleep,” Miller said. ‘‘A sleep deprived brain does not learn as well, does not perform as well for higher cognitive function as it could if given adequate sleep.”

Internet surfing and watching television at night is causing individuals to stay up late and not have normal sleep patterns, Miller said. He said the light exposure in the late evening hours lowers the amount of melatonin — the brain chemical linked to deep sleep.

‘‘It shifts you to later sleep habits,” Miller said. ‘‘It restricts sleep. It is also one of the big problems in the insomnia patients I see.”

Miller said there are three rules he tells his patients when preparing for sleep. He said he tells them to define a ‘‘sleep opportunity,” — between six and eight hours of continuous sleep in duration and going to bed at the same time every night and rising at the same time every morning — avoiding bright light exposure 30 to 60 minutes prior going to bed each night — including the television.

Individuals who still feel they can not fall asleep, should get up move about or take on an activity such as reading a book until they feel sleepy, he said. Miller said no television or computer what-so-ever.

Miller said individuals tend to play ‘‘weekend catch up” — which he does not recommend. He said if individuals feel the need to catch up, they should only do it for 30 to 60 minutes. The weekend catch up tends to hinder the individuals ability to acquire normal sleep habits, he said.

Board said individuals who find they are having trouble sleeping or getting enough sleep should seek help. He said there may be a much bigger problem than stress.