According to a new report by the Institute of Medicine ( IOM), 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from a disorder of sleep and wakefulness, which adversely affects daily functioning, health and longevity.
Research has shown that the cumulative long-term effects of sleep loss and sleep disorders are associated with a wide range of deleterious health consequences including an increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack, and stroke.
The institute, one of the independent National Academies of Science that advise the federal government on scientific and health issues, found evidence that most people who have a sleep disorder are undiagnosed and untreated.
Apparently hundreds of billions of dollars a year are spent on medical costs associated with doctor visits, hospital services, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications.
Research has shown that almost 20 percent of all serious car crash injuries are associated with driver sleepiness, independent of the effects of alcohol.
Little is known about the causes and processes that underlie sleep disorders, because too few scientists study the problem and too few health-care professionals are trained to diagnose and treat it.
Medical students for example generally receive only four hours of instruction in sleep medicine -- although any practicing doctor is able to prescribe sleep medication.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the NIH, the National Sleep Foundation, and the Sleep Research Society called for the IOM to conduct a study that would look at the public health significance of sleep, sleep loss, and sleep disorders; the gaps in the public health system and adequacy of the current resources and infrastructures for addressing the gaps; the barriers and opportunities for improving interdisciplinary research and medical education and training in the area of sleep and sleep medicine, and, then develop a comprehensive plan for enhancing sleep medicine and sleep research.