Health/Wellness
AccidentsMulti-tasking lifestyle is encouraging us to scrimp on sleep, with dangerous consequences... |
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Ottawa Sun |
Most people deprive themselves during the week and catch up on the weekend. But until then they have a growing level of impairment, with Thursday and Friday being the worst.
It's not surprising then that up to 60% of motor vehicle collisions may be related to sleep deprivation. Shift workers in particular are at a higher risk for car crashes.
"They're generally sleep-deprived because they can't sleep at the time their biological clock needs them to," Lee says. Both Three Mile Island and the Exxon Valdez occurred on the night shift.
Doctors are another vulnerable group. Research has shown that during back-to-back or long shifts, between their 30th and 36th hour, mistakes become more common.
When pilots are tested on flight simulators, the number of errors increase when they're tested during the night.
"It's a big issue because for pilots, they can't pull over and take a nap," Lee says.
Accidents aren't the only risk, however. Sleep apnea strikes up to 20% of the population, as well as up to 50% of snorers. It can contribute to the development of hypertension, adult-onset diabetes, psychiatric disorders, stroke, heart disease and congestive heart failure.
Sleep deprivation also leads to irritability, depression, lack of cognitive function, alertness and responsiveness.
"It may even be leading to weight gain," Lee says.
He says people undervalue sleep and overestimate how much they're getting.
"People still think they're functioning adequately but (testing shows) there is impairment," Lee says. "(Sleep)is a biological imperative.It can only be denied at significant consequence."
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