Staggering costs of sleep disorders and sleep deprivation on the nation

According to a new report by the Institute of Medicine ( IOM), 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from a disorder of sleep and wakefulness, which adversely affects daily functioning, health and longevity.

Research has shown that the cumulative long-term effects of sleep loss and sleep disorders are associated with a wide range of deleterious health consequences including an increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack, and stroke.

The institute, one of the independent National Academies of Science that advise the federal government on scientific and health issues, found evidence that most people who have a sleep disorder are undiagnosed and untreated.

Apparently hundreds of billions of dollars a year are spent on medical costs associated with doctor visits, hospital services, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications.

Research has shown that almost 20 percent of all serious car crash injuries are associated with driver sleepiness, independent of the effects of alcohol.

Little is known about the causes and processes that underlie sleep disorders, because too few scientists study the problem and too few health-care professionals are trained to diagnose and treat it.

Medical students for example generally receive only four hours of instruction in sleep medicine -- although any practicing doctor is able to prescribe sleep medication.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the NIH, the National Sleep Foundation, and the Sleep Research Society called for the IOM to conduct a study that would look at the public health significance of sleep, sleep loss, and sleep disorders; the gaps in the public health system and adequacy of the current resources and infrastructures for addressing the gaps; the barriers and opportunities for improving interdisciplinary research and medical education and training in the area of sleep and sleep medicine, and, then develop a comprehensive plan for enhancing sleep medicine and sleep research.

The report recognized that along with the lead taken by the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, a coordinated strategy is needed to ensure continued scientific and clinical advances.

In order to meet the public health and economic burden caused by sleep loss and sleep disorders the report recommends that;

• A workforce be established to meet the clinical and scientific demands of the field;
• Awareness of the burden of sleep loss and sleep disorders among the general public is raised;
• Surveillance and monitoring of the public health burden of sleep loss and sleep disorders is improved;
• Awareness is raised among health care professionals through education and training;
• New and existing diagnostic and therapeutic technologies are developed and validated;
• Accreditation criteria to emphasize treatment, long-term patient care, and chronic disease management strategies is expanded;
• The national research infrastructure to connect individual investigators, research programs, and research centers is strengthened;
• The investment in interdisciplinary sleep programs in academic health centers that emphasize long-term clinical care, training, and research is increased.