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. Massachusetts has 35 practicing sleep medicine doctors. Broken out by city, sleep medicine doctor density in Amherst is 2, in Attleboro is 1, in Bedford is 1, in Beverly is 2, in Boston is 12, in Brighton is 3, in Brockton is 1, in Brookline is 1, in Burlington is 1, in Cambridge is 1, in Dorchester is 1, in Dorchester Center is 1, in Duxbury is 1, in Framingham is 2, in Gloucester is 1, in Holyoke is 1, in Hopedale is 1, in Jamaica Plain is 1, in Milford is 1, in Milton is 1, in Natick is 2, in Needham is 1, in Newton is 3, in Norwood is 3, in Peabody is 1, in Quincy is 1, in Roslindale is 1, in Salem is 2, in Springfield is 3, in Stoneham is 1, in Weymouth is 1, and in Worcester is 3.

Massachusetts became the sixth state in the union in 1788, and is steeped in history. Boston, the capital city, is home to Harvard University, the John F. Kennedy Museum and Library, the Paul Revere House, and many other historical sites. Massachusetts is home to the New England Pirate Museum in Salem, the Minute Man National Historical Park, and the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, both in Concord. Four past presidents were born in Massachusetts; John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John F. Kennedy and George H. W. Bush. Other famous Massachusetts people include actors Leonard Nimoy and Bette Davis, composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, and historical figures Susan B. Anthony, Edgar Allan Poe, Paul Revere, and Benjamin Franklin.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Massachusetts has a population of 6,398,743. Of this population, 1,419,389 are under the age of 18 and 848,924 are at or above the age of 65.