Insomnia declared 'public health epidemic'
A few new habits can help you get your zzzz's
Americans are so sleep deprived that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention two years ago declared insufficient sleep a national “public health epidemic” that effects productivity and can damage health.
As many as 48 percent of Americans report experiencing occasional insomnia, according to the National Sleep Foundation, while 22 percent report having difficulty sleeping every, or almost every, night.
Health organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the American Psychological Association and the Mayo Clinic have warned for years that Americans aren’t getting enough sleep, linking the condition to increased health risks, motor vehicle crashes, workplace accidents and decreased productivity. “Adequate sleep improves daytime functioning and concentration, and may improve the body’s immune system,” said Dr. Larry Ayers, a pulmonary diseases physician affiliated with the Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa.
The CDC estimates that between 50 and 70 million U.S. adults have a sleep or wakefulness disorder, a term that includes insomnia, as well as other sleep-related conditions such as sleep apnea, characterized by breathing interruptions during sleep, restless leg syndrome — a tingling or prickly sensation in the legs — and narcolepsy, a condition that causes overwhelming daytime sleepiness and daytime “sleep attacks.”
With so many people experiencing so many different sleeping issues, it can be difficult to know exactly what qualifies as “healthy sleep.”
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Jun/25/sleep-deprived-insomnia-wakefulness-disorder/
According to Health And Safety Training Peterborough an average person sleeps about 2920 hours in one year.
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