I just finished Chapter 4 of the Pickwick Papers, in which near end the fat boy who is always falling asleep is described. I seached for "neurology fat boy sleep" and found a site about sleep apnea that I think many members might find worth reading. Particularly if you know someone very obese who snores a lot, and feels tired all day.
http://www.mtsinai.org/pulmonary/Sleep/OSA.htm

It is actually a more serious condition than it sounds and the sufferer isn't necessarily obese.

Quite true, but I was just describing the ones most at risk.
One thing I was a bit surprised at. I have been under impression that snoring is more likely to happen when person is sleeping on back. I wonder if either lateral or prone position might me less likely to cause trouble.

There was a recent article in Slate about how the position in which one dominantly sleeps discloses personality type. It was based on some British research which correlated observed sleeping posture with established psychological measures of personality type. To my frustration, the position in which I most commonly sleep was not among those listed. Did I feel weird?

Well, Father, what is your position?

I, for one, being in the (blagh!) menopausal stage, find myself waking in the middle of the night not wanting to be in any position at all other than perhaps having my extremeties embeeded in an ice floe, not that there could be any other kind of floe such as a quartz floe or a basalt floe.

However, I do wonder which position was omitted in the reference to which you...uh, refer.

I tremble at the thought of disclosing too much of my personality type by revealing my favoured position in which to sleep, but here goes. I lay on my right side, with my right leg straight and my left leg drawn up a few inches, cocked at the knee. I bend my right arm into a crook and put my hand under my head under the pillow, while the left arm remains outside the covers, bent ninety degrees at the elbow. My sweet bride thinks this the funniest thing she has ever seen, which shows only that she has led a comedy-deprived existence.

sounds like pretty much the way I sleep(though I often keep the left arm under the covers), though I've been trying to cultivate the "Royal" position, that of flat on my back.

always wonder about the results of that type of study FS.

I mean, aren't the results tainted by the fact that they are garnered by testing on the type of person that would submit themselves to that type of testing?

For example, I've heard that if you sleep in a fetal position you are insecure and feel pressured in your life.

But maybe it is only the type person that lets himself be submitted to testing, that sleeps in fetal position, who is insecure. Maybe the rest of the world population who sleeps in the fetal position is actually quite confident and happy and wouldn't think of participating in sleep type testing.

Really successful people don't need the money these companies pay for the tests. Regular joes, who have a job, can't take the time out to submit to the tests. So their tests are skewed.

And, to elaborate on what WW said, I'm sure the results would be skewed for women depending upon age, and, well, time of month - so even if the charater was the same - the sleeping pattern wouldn't be.

And I'm surprised that position was omitted from the report, because it's probably one of the most common ones for people who sleep on their side. It has to do with maximal muscle relaxation and placing the least amount of tension on the limbs or the back, analogous to the "position of function" that orthopedists try to set your broken hand/wrist/arm in when they put on a cast. (Sublime-To-Ridiculous Dep't: Ever see a picture of Superman flying?!)

...to cultivate the "Royal" position, that of flat on my back.

- Or - "The lone missionary".

If you're male, wouldn't that be "flat on your front"? Just asking ...

"If you're male, wouldn't that be "flat on your front"? Just asking ..."

And if you were a missionary from a planet that orbits Sirius, I guess that would be on your hands and...

Never mind. It's too early. But does anyone really sleep in the same position for an entire night? I'd wake up stiff as plywood if I didn't change positions.

And if you were a missionary from a planet that orbits Sirius, I guess that would be on your hands and...

No, no, Sirius is the Dog Star. The position would be ...

I was gonna say some thing like - "I stay stiff as plywood as long as I keep changing positions", but I better not.

good thing you didn't say that, musick...

Some peoples are always braggin', braggin', braggin'

*doesn't think they're talking about sleeping disorders anymore*

sleeping disorders

Our disorders are all quite awake, thank you very much.