Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings April 2017 - 246

From the Editor

Facts and ideas from anywhere

SLEEP DEPRAVATION
Arianna Huﬃngton
has produced a terriﬁc
book entitled The Sleep
Revolution: Transforming
Your Life, One Night at a
Time (1). Her approach
includes discussions of
important recent scientiﬁc discoveries on sleep
and many human stories
and experiences. Sleep is
one of Ms. Huﬃngton's
passions. She dedicated
William C. Roberts, MD.
this book to "the millions of people around
the world who are sick and tired of being sick and tired and
longing for a good night's sleep." The rest of this piece comes
from her book.
The medical consequences of sleep deprivation have only
recently been recognized. In the 1970s there were only three
centers in the USA devoted to sleep disorders; by the 1990s
that number had increased to >300, and today, there are >2500
accredited sleep centers. The delusion persists that we can do
our jobs just as well on 4 or 5 or 6 hours of sleep as we can on
7 or 8. It is a delusion that aﬀects not only our personal health
but our productivity and decision-making. She writes, "The surrendering to sleep every night is the ultimate letting-go." More
than 40% of American adults get less than the recommended
minimum 7 hours of sleep per night. Huﬃngton continues,
"We are only now beginning to come out of a phase that started with the Industrial Revolution in which sleep became just
another obstacle to work. The veneration of sleep as a unique
portal to the sacred was sacriﬁced to the idea of progress and
productivity."
Sleep deprivation has become an epidemic. Both our daytime hours and our nighttime hours are under assault as never
before. As the number of things we need to cram into our day
has increased, the value of our awake time has skyrocketed.
Scientists are resoundingly conﬁrming what our ancestors knew
instinctively: that our sleep is not empty time; sleep is a time
of intense neurologic activity-a rich time of renewal, memory
246

consolidation, brain and neurochemical cleansing, and cognitive
maintenance.
Our sleep time is as valuable a commodity as the time we
are awake. In fact, getting the right amount of sleep enhances
every minute we spend with our eyes open. And it is a collective delusion that sleep is simply time lost. Sleep deprivation is
glamorized and celebrated: "You snooze, you lose." The distractions and temptations of a 24/7 wired world have imperiled
our sleep as never before. Most of us are paying a high price
for cheating sleep. Sleep is just as important as good nutrition,
physical activity, and wearing a seatbelt. Sleep deprivation is
our most underrated health habit.
The crisis is global. The unquestioning belief that work
should always have the top claim on our time has been a costly
one, and it has gotten worse as technology has allowed a growing number of us to carry our work with us in our pockets and
purses in the form of our phones. Being perpetually wired is
now considered a prerequisite for success. In the last 50 years,
our sleep on work nights has dropped from 8.5 to just under
7.0 hours per night. Thirty percent of employed Americans now
report getting 6 hours of sleep or less per night, and nearly 70%
describe their sleep as insuﬃcient. Getting less than 7 hours of
sleep per 24 hours is one of the biggest factors in job burnout.
The lower the socioeconomic position, the poorer the subjective sleep quality, the greater the sleepiness and sleep complaints. Where we live also aﬀects our sleep. There appears to
be a direct association between neighborhood quality and sleep.
The annual cost of sleep deprivation to the US economy was
estimated recently to be $63 billion in the form of absenteeism
and presenteeism (when employees are present at work physically
but not really mentally focused). A tired worker accomplishes
less than a nontired worker. Our loss of sleep, despite the extra
hours we put in at work, adds up to more than 11 days of lost
productivity per year per worker, or nearly $2300. Besides lost
productivity, sleep deprivation leads to driving and workplace
accidents.
Women need more sleep than men. Poor sleep is strongly
associated with high levels of psychological distress and greater
feelings of hostility, depression, and anger. Women who work
outside the home work more at home than most male mates.
Good sleep lengthens lifespan. Death rates from all causes
go up 15% when we sleep 5 hours or less per night, and sleep
Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent) 2017;30(2):246-252

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings April 2017