Sleep Disorders Increase Risk of Depression, Obesity, Even Car Crash Injuries
It is estimated that 50 to 70 million Americans chronically suffer from a disorder of sleep and wakefulness, hindering daily functioning and adversely affecting health and longevity. The cumulative long-term effects of sleep loss and sleep disorders have been associated with a wide range of deleterious health consequences including an increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack, and stroke.
This estimate of the prevalence of sleep disorders in the United States appears in a new report from the Institute of Medicine titled Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the report’s authors estimate that sleep disorders cost hundreds of billions of dollars a year spent on direct medical costs associated with doctor visits, hospital services, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications. And almost 20 percent of all serious car crash injuries in the general population are associated with driver sleepiness, independent of alcohol effects.
“Unfortunately, sleep disorders and sleep deprivation…[are]…underappreciated by the public, the health professions and medical researchers,” said Dr. Harvey Colten, chairman of the panel that prepared the report and a former senior associate dean for health sciences at Columbia University.
We reported last year (“Sleep and the Treatment of Depression”) on two recent studies concerning sleep and the treatment of depression.
Rate this post?
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Related Posts
- Tips on Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
- What Does Sleep Have to Do With Mental Health?
- Experts Warn About Growing Use of Prescription Sleeping Pills
- No Cry Sleeping Solutions
- How to Forget Your Own Needs!
Other articles by Dr Greg Mulhauser, Managing Editor
This article was last reviewed by on Thursday, 6th April 2006. You can leave a response below.
The URL of this page is:
http://counsellingresource.com/features/2006/04/06/sleep-disorders/
