Sleep medicine deals with the causes, diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. A sleep medicine physician treats problems such as sleep apnea and snoring, insomnia and narcolepsy. Sleep apnea is when a person actually stops breathing for a few seconds during sleep, and is usually accompanied by loud snoring. Narcolepsy is a disorder of the central nervous system, and is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, and a tendency to sleep at inappropriate times, even if the person gets adequate nighttime sleep. Also considered sleep disorders are periodic limb movements and restless legs.

Treatment includes overnight study in a sleep center, where technicians observe, monitor, and analyze brain activity, respiratory function, muscle function and other variables that help diagnose complex sleep disorders. Sometimes a physician may fit a patient may with a device to measure a person's activity, their environmental temperature, light levels and mood state, all recorded by a computer the size of wrist watch. This allows the physician to get objective, accurate data on the patient's daily life, and help to assess sleep problems.

Doctor density varies by specialty and location. Maine has 5 practicing sleep medicine doctors. Broken out by city, sleep medicine doctor density in Bangor is 2, in Machias is 1, in Portland is 2, and in Scarborough is 1.

When you think of Maine, you probably think of seafood. Maine’s 228 miles of coastline offer residents and tourists breathtaking coastal scenery and numerous summer water sports, though most tourists visit Maine in the warmer months. Ninety percent of the land in Maine is forested, and the Appalachian Trail begins in this state. The capital city is Augusta, and the population is 1,321, 505. Famous Maine citizens include author Stephen King, artist Andrew Wyeth, and poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Maine has a population of 1,321,505. Of this population, 272,217 are under the age of 18 and 192,024 are at or above the age of 65.