According to research conducted on patients at a Toronto Sleep Laboratory, having sex while sleeping is more prevalent than previously thought.

Sharon Chung, Staff Scientist at the Sleep Research Laboratory at the University Health Network's Toronto Western Hospital discloses, that one in twelve patients engaged in sexual activity during sleep.

Today the research will be presented at SLEEP 2010 in San Antonio, Texas. SLEEP 2010 is yearly meeting of clinicians and scientists in the field of sleep medicine and sleep research. It includes the study and treatment of insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea and parasomnia. Parasomnia is an unusual behavior, which includes sexual behavior during sleep.

Parasomniacs are people who may feel that they have not taken adequate rest. These people are unaware of the fact that they walk, talk, eat or have sex while sleeping, unless somebody tells them.

Researchers found that the disease is more prevalent in men, with 11% men being affected with Parasomnia as compared with 4% women.

The study was pioneered by Dr. Colin Shapiro, Head of Neuropsychiatry and the Sleep and Alertness Clinic at Toronto Western Hospital. It was Dr. Shapiro who had coined the term "sexomnia".

Researchers say that the findings of this study are important as it debunks the idea that this is some unusual, obscure behavior. Pararsomnia is common in many people, and in some relatively rare cases it causes legal problems.