Are you at risk?
How do you know you have sleep problems?
The symptoms of sleep disorders vary between people in type and severity of the disorder. Some sleep disorders cause people to have trouble sleeping at night. Others make people feel drowsy all day even though they slept all night. While we all recognize when we have had a bad night’s sleep, sometimes it is not so clear. Often sleep problems develop slowly and gradually over years and it may seem like a normal part of our lives and not really a problem at all. Others recognize their problem.
Sometimes the problem may not seem like a sleeping problem at all. The problem may show up in the afternoon. We may sleep well, but still be sleepy during the day. Most of us will describe our problems in terms of the symptoms we experience.
Common sleep disorder symptoms
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Chronic Fatigue
- Nighttime leg cramps
- Problems with adjusting to shift work
- Waking frequently after falling asleep
- Waking during sleep and not being able to fall back to sleep
- Snoring loudly
- Awaking to find yourself gasping for breath
- Excessive sleepiness during the day
- Moving during your sleep
- Hitting or kicking your bedmate
- Walking or talking in your sleep
- Sleeping at the wrong times
If you say “YES” to any of the above symptoms, please make sure you discuss “Sleep Disorder” with your Doctor. The symptoms you experience may represent a sleep disorder and your physician might order a sleep disorder diagnostic test called Sleep Study.
Are you among this?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at least 100,000 police-reported crashes are caused by drowsy drivers each year. These crashes result in more than 1,500 deaths and 71,000 injuries.
- Some 70 million people in the US have a sleep problem. About 40 million adults suffer from a chronic sleep disorder; an additional 20-30 million have intermittent sleep-related problems.
- Effects of sleep loss on work performance may be costing US employers some $18 billion in lost productivity.
- America’s adults average 6.9 hours of sleep each night, slightly less than the range of 7-9 hours recommended by many sleep experts.
- Three-quarters of America’s adults (75%) said they frequently experienced at least one symptom of a sleep problem in the past year.
- More than 3/4 of America’s partnered adults (77%) say their partner has a sleep-related problem; the most common problem is snoring.
- One-quarter of America’s adults, 47 million people, don’t get the minimum amount of sleep they say they need to be alert the next day.
- People who are already hypertensive may increase their risk of heart attack or stroke if they fail to get adequate sleep.
- Shift workers are 30%-50% more likely to develop heart disease than day workers in the same industry.
- More than 1/2 of America’s adults nap at least once a week.
- While the majority of America’s adults do not use anything to help them sleep, for those who do use a sleep aid, alcohol appears to be the most popular choice; 11% of adults said they used alcohol, beer, or wine at least a few nights a month, 9% used over-the-counter sleep aids, 7% said they used prescription sleep medications.
- About 6 in 10 adults licensed to drive (60%), or about 118 million people, said they have driven drowsy at least once in the past year.
- 17%, 32 million people said they fell asleep at the wheel.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at least 100,000 police-reported crashes are caused by drowsy drivers each year. These crashes result in more than 1,500 deaths and 71,000 injuries.