Health/Wellness
Beware the sleep-deprivedMulti-tasking lifestyle is encouraging us to scrimp on sleep, with dangerous consequences... HOLLY LAKE |
|
 [ 2006-06-22 ] |
Little sleep can do a lot of damage
Photodisc/ Photdisc Blue/ GettyImages
ON THE SURFACE, the Exxon Valdez, Chernobyl, the chemical spill in Bhopal, India and many other preventable catastrophes appear to have little in common.
But a closer look at these environmental disasters reveal what they share: Each was caused by a lack of sleep.
These are catastrophic examples of what happens when the biological need for sleep intersects with a busy lifestyle, says Dr. Elliott Lee, a sleep specialist at the Royal Ottawa Hospital.
"Most people do not realize how prevalent the problem of insufficient sleep is in our society," he says. "(It's) often dismissed as trivial."
According to Statistics Canada, 47% of Canadians have cut down on their sleep voluntarily. American data indicate people are sleeping 20% less each night than 50 years ago.
Some need 11 hours
Lee says the demands on people's time are ever-increasing, and in Canada, many have dubbed the metropolitan, multi-tasking lifestyle the "Toronto syndrome."
"They're the kinds of people who are most notorious for cutting down on sleep to get the most accomplished."
While most need at least eight hours of sleep, some require up to 11 nightly. Others can live on six, but in general, people can't function for prolonged periods on three or four hours. Countermeasures such as caffeine can compensate temporarily, but without enough sleep, a sleep debt accumulates.
Does your employer subsidize your commute to work?