Sleep trouble affects millions, report says
WASHINGTON -- Chronic sleeping problems afflict as many as 70 million Americans, costing the nation billions in medical expenses, accidents, and lost productivity, a new study reports.
''Balm of hurt minds" to Shakespeare, sleep seems to be necessary for the nervous system to work properly, and a lack of sleep can hamper the immune system, cause memory impairment, and reduce ability to concentrate.
As many as 30 million Americans, more than 1 in 10, suffer specifically from chronic insomnia, according to the study released yesterday by the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study found that millions more are affected by other disorders, such as sleep apnea, or breathing interruptions during sleep; sleepwalking; and restless leg syndrome.
Yet medical students get little training in sleep problems and research is limited, prompting the institute to call for more research and training programs.
''Although sleep research and care for individuals with sleep disorders have expanded over the past several years, we currently don't have the capacity to adequately diagnose and treat all who suffer from these problems," said Harvey Colten, chairman of the committee that wrote the report and former vice president and senior associate dean for academic affairs, Columbia University Medical Center.
Dr. Michael Thorpy, director of the Sleep Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, agreed on the need for research and education.
There are about 80 sleep disorders, he noted, and lots of areas where there is very little research, such as sleepwalking.
Physicians are far more interested in sleep problems than they were years ago, but there is a lack of training, and ''most medical students are lucky if they get two or three lectures at most on sleep problems," said Thorpy, who was not part of the Institute research team.
The Institute of Medicine report said loss of sleep has increased in recent decades due to longer workdays and computer use and television watching taking up more time. Lack of sleep increases the risk of a variety of health problems, the report said, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and heart attacks.
It also raises the chances of injury or death due to accidents at work, home, or in automobiles.
Studies in the 1990s estimated the cost of medical care for sleep disorders at $15.9 billion, the report said. In addition, fatigue is estimated to cost businesses about $150 billion a year in lost productivity and mishaps, and damage from motor vehicle accidents involving tired drivers amounts to at least $48 billion a year.
Last week the National Sleep Foundation issued a report indicating only 20 percent of US adolescents get the recommended nine hours of sleep a night. 