It's time to wake up to the importance of sleep disorders

Article Abstract:

Ignoring sleep disorders can have a significant effect on the health of the population. As society has become more technologically complex, the consequences of sleep disorders such as insomnia, poor-quality sleep and sleep deprivation have become more severe. Shift workers are up to five times more likely to fall asleep while on the job than day workers. Fatigue and drowsiness at work can lead to catastrophe and increases workers' stress and irritability and risk of heart disease. Sleep loss and drowsiness are thought to play a role in 200,000 to 400,000 car accidents every year. It is estimated that insomnia affects 20% to 40% of adults, yet only 5% of them actually seek medical treatment for their disorder. Individuals suffering from sleep disorders should be encouraged to report their symptoms to their physicians, and the medical community should take a more active role in diagnosing and treating these disorders.

Care and treatment, Sleep disorders

---

The sleep of long-haul truck drivers

Article Abstract:

Many long-distance truck drivers are not getting enough sleep and some may even get drowsy while driving. This was the conclusion of a study that used physiologic electrodes and video cameras to monitor 80 long-distance truck drivers. Over a four- or five-day trip, the drivers got an average of 5 hours of sleep per day, as verified by the electrodes. This was two hours less than their preferred sleep pattern. Many drivers took short naps to make up for this. No crashes or other accidents occurred, but video monitors showed that over half the drivers became drowsy while driving on at least one occasion.

Measurement, Sleep

---

The perils of drowsy driving

Article Abstract:

More research is needed on the effects of driving while drowsy and ways to prevent it. A 1997 study of 80 long-distance truck drivers found that many did not get enough sleep and some became drowsy while driving. Other studies have shown that sleep deprivation can affect a driver as much as alcohol. In the US, two organizations concerned with drowsy driving have been started by the parents of people killed by a drowsy driver. Most people frown on drunk driving but have no strong feeling about drowsy driving. Much of this is attributed to the fact that people are not educated about sleep deprivation.

Editorial, Analysis, Sleep deprivation

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Medicaid: the role of the states. The politics of Medicare
• Abstracts: Paget's disease of bone treated with a five day course of oral tiludronate. Tiludronate for Paget's disease of bone
• Abstracts: Give your family the gift of safety. Council expands into global arena. Council organizes injury prevention delegation to China
• Abstracts: Anticytokine strategies in the treatment of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Recurrent pregnancy loss and cytokines: not as simple as it seems
• Abstracts: Inhibition of contractions of the isolated human myometrium by potassium channel openers. Potent inhibition by tamoxifen of spontaneous and agonist-induced contractions of the human myometrium and intramyometrial arteries

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.