Good Night’s Sleep Is Important

To be well-rested is a feat easier said than done for approximately 40 million adults who suffer from chronic sleep disorders and an additional 30 million troubled by intermittent sleep-related conditions. As we prepare to “spring forward” to Daylight Savings Time on March 9, experts at the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Memorial urge people to examine their current sleep habits and remember the importance of a good night’s sleep.
The national incidence of sleep deprivation is largely due to undiagnosed sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy, many of which can be treated, however often go undiagnosed.
“Sleep problems are widespread and on the rise, yet many people dismiss the issue and don’t realize the consequences that can result” said Phyllis Zee, MD, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Memorial. “Continuous quality sleep is essential, as sleep loss over an extended period of time has been linked to serious health issues including obesity, depression, heart attack and stroke,” adds Zee.
Sleep deprivation can also lead to poor performance at work and impaired driving. An estimated 47 million adults acknowledge they don’t get the minimum amount of sleep needed to be alert the next day, which can lead to lower productivity for employers. Dangerous driving is also a common occurance. In fact, according to a recent poll by the National Sleep Foundation, about 60 percent of licensed drivers, about 118 million people, reported driving while drowsy, of which more than one-third said they had actually nodded off or fell asleep at the wheel. Several studies show that prolonged wakefulness can impair driving performance to that of a blood alcohol level of .05 percent to .10 percent, with .08 percent considered legally drunk. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) approximately 100,000 police-reported crashes and 1,500 deaths occur in the U.S. each year because of drowsy driving.
“There is a common misconception that you can ‘catch up’ on sleep,” Zee noted. “Unfortunately, this is not true. Adequate and consistent sleep is far more important than the general public perceives it to be. Sleep habits are an important indicator of one’s overall health and continued sleep problems need to be addressed,” adds Zee.