| It is certainly the case that in the developed world | | | | scores show it is. |
| we are now sleeping considerably less than we did a | | | | In respect of obesity are if we are tired we crave |
| generation ago. This comes as no surprise as the rise | | | | high-carbohydrate, sugary and fatty foods to give us |
| of technology means we can now entertain | | | | a boost. We may also crave caffeine, which can turn |
| ourselves into the early hours. | | | | into a vicious downward spiral as caffeine impact our |
| However, the more I read the more I become | | | | ability to sleep at night - the half life of a cup of |
| convinced that a great many modern day ills could be | | | | coffee can last up to 6 hours. |
| cured if society understood the impact that not | | | | By not getting enough sleep we don't produce |
| getting the correct amount of sleep has on us both | | | | sufficient growth hormone to counter cortisol |
| in terms of performance at work (or school) and the | | | | (associated with stress) which is also responsible for |
| impact on our health, especially the modern-day | | | | release of sugar into the blood stream. Excess sugar |
| pandemic of obesity. It is all too easy to see sleep as | | | | is then converted to fat and is stored around our |
| a necessary sacrifice but thinking that reducing sleep | | | | waists. |
| will enable us to do more couldn't be further from the | | | | Research conducted by Warwick and UCL (as |
| truth. | | | | presented last year) studied 10,308 Civil Servants |
| It is generally considered that we require between 7 | | | | between 1985 and 1988 and again in 1992. They |
| and 8 hours of sleep a night and that getting less | | | | found that the risk of dying of fatal heart disease |
| than six hours of sleep has negative consequences | | | | doubles among people who cut the hours of sleep |
| on productivity and health. It was with some concern | | | | from 7 to 5 hours. |
| that I came across the results of a 2006 GMTV poll | | | | There has been some considerable research around |
| that showed that 19% of us were getting the | | | | fatigue and safety in industrial settings, particularly |
| recommended 8 hours of sleep a night and that 42% | | | | where shift work is involved (see Loughborough |
| of people in the South of England are getting less | | | | Sleep Research Centre and Surrey Sleep Research |
| than 5 hours. | | | | Centre here in the UK). We also understand that |
| New parents and teenagers are typically the most | | | | fatigue leads to a great many car accidents every |
| sleep-deprived people in society. A study for Mother | | | | year. Fatigue was highlighted as key reasons for |
| & Baby magazine of 3,000 mothers showed | | | | other major disasters such as the Exxon Valdez, |
| that mothers today average a mere 3.5 hours of | | | | Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Challenger Space Shuttle |
| sleep in the first 4 months of a child's life (versus 6 | | | | and the Selby rail crash. What other research has |
| hours for their parents) and then just 5 hours after | | | | there been showing that fatigue impacts |
| 18 months. | | | | performance? |
| Another study by Actimel and Top Sante magazine in | | | | Studies at the University of Pennsylvania split 48 |
| 2007 showed that 75% of women in their 30s are | | | | adults into 3 groups, each of which slept for either 4, |
| lucky to get 6 hours of sleep a night, 85% of | | | | 6 or 8 hours a night. Tasks were then undertaken to |
| 30-something women frequently feel tired and of | | | | test motor skills and memory. By the 14th day the |
| those 59% feel tired all the time. These statistics are | | | | 4-hour sleepers were 14x more likely to make errors |
| worrying for the health and productivity of our | | | | and the 6-hour sleepers 11x more likely to make |
| nation! | | | | errors than the 8-hour group. |
| The US Government's National Health and | | | | This has little impact where a tired member of staff |
| Examination survey of March 2007 (18,000 people) | | | | has to re-type several letters or words but it has |
| showed that those who slept less than 6 hours a | | | | considerably more impact where they enter the |
| night were 23% more likely to be obese than those | | | | wrong numbers into a trading system (as happened |
| who slept between 7 and 9 hours. This rose to 50% | | | | in the City not so long ago) or where the work |
| for those who slept under 5 hours and 73% in those | | | | impacts people's lives. |
| who slept under 4 hours. Boston School of Medicine | | | | An Occupational and Environmental Medicine Study of |
| also revealed that those who slept for less than 5 | | | | 1,300 doctors (in March 2007) revealed that 66% of |
| hours a night were 2.5x more likely to develop | | | | doctors admit to having made a mistake at some |
| diabetes versus those who slept 7 to 8 hour a night. | | | | point because they were tired - 40% in the last 6 |
| The Harvard Business review found that a week of | | | | months. In standard tests conducted for the |
| sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night induces performance | | | | experiment 1/3 were classed as sleepy - this rose to |
| impairment equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.1% | | | | 57% in emergency medicine, 40% in anaesthetics |
| (the UK drink driving limit is 0.08%). So whilst we | | | | and 38% in intensive care. Our most fatigued doctors |
| applaud those who work long hours we would be | | | | appear to work in the most critical departments |
| less impressed if we saw our colleagues tucking in to | | | | where life and death decisions need to be made |
| a couple of pints of beer before work every day. | | | | regularly. |
| The problem is that fatigued people do not believe | | | | We certainly need a better level of education into |
| their performance is impaired even though objective | | | | sleep, sleep habits and sleep hygiene! |