Year In Review: 11 New Reasons To Get A Good Night's Sleep

It's a well-documented issue: Experts like The National Sleep Foundation recommend adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep per night, but data suggests that large numbers of American adults are falling way short of that, clocking six hours or less per day. The reasons for changing that are myriad. Lack of sleep has been tied to serious problems, like diabetes, obesity and accidents, prompting the Centers for Disease Control to say that sleep is "increasingly recognized as important to public health."

If that's not enough to convince you to make sleep a priority, try this -- our list of 11 new reasons that emerged in 2011 showing exactly how important sleep is for your health. Take a look, then take a moment (or more) to contemplate how you can better work those crucial resting hours into your day-to-day routine. It's so worth it.