March 27, 2001--
Americans are working more and sleeping less.
According to a new study the average work week is now 46 hours. That's up from five years ago.
And that may be why more and more people are having trouble staying awake on the job.
The National Sleep Foundation says about 40 percent have trouble staying awake on the job.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates reports on another interesting finding released today by a Utah sleep expert.
It seems logical that someone who is sleep deprived at night will be in a foul mood the following day. The LDS Hospital Sleep Center now has a study proving it, showing sleep disturbances go hand in hand with depression.
There are several reasons why Americans are sleep deprived -- a significant cause is a condition called sleep apnea, in which an obstructed airway at night interferes with sleep.
Though the patient doesn't know it, the body keeps waking up to clear the airway. The next morning, the patient feels tired and lethargic - and depressed.
ROBERT FARNEY, M.D., LDS HOSPITAL SLEEP CENTER: "WHETHER OR NOT SLEEP APNEA RESULTS IN WHAT WE WOULD CALL A CLINICAL DEPRESSION OR SIMPLY DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IS, I SUPPOSE, THE ISSUE. BUT THERE IS NO DOUBT THEY HAVE A VERY SIMILAR OVERLAP OF SYMPTOMS."
While the LDS Hospital study used patients with sleep apnea as a control group, the evidence supports this week's warnings from the National Sleep Foundation.
Sleep deprivation -- whatever the cause -- not only results in fatigue at work and behind the wheel, but mood disorders as well.
Pressures to work longer and harder while taking sleep for granted are creating a national public health crisis.
DR. FARNEY: "MOOD DISTURBANCES, INATTENTIVENESS, PROBLEMS REGARDING WHAT WE CALL THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN, ATTENTIVENESS, ABILITY TO CONCENTRATE, MEMORY PROBLEMS."
The list goes on, and sleep experts say it's growing.
The new recommendation: Some people don't need less sleep as believed previously. All people need more sleep - not four, not six, but eight hours of sleep per night.
Studies now show...
DR. FARNEY: "THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE RESTRICTING THEIR SLEEP TO SIX HOURS COMPARED TO EIGHT HOURS HAD THE EQUIVALENT IN TERMS OF THEIR DAYTIME FUNCTION OF SOMEONE WHO HAD BEEN SLEEP DEPRIVED FOR ONE FULL NIGHT."
And it's worse for someone sleeping an average of four hours. After four or five days, the neurological deficit at work is identical to someone totally deprived of sleep for 48 hours.
