Sleep Disorders

“Sleep tight and sweet dreams” used to be the phrase used when bidding a family member good night. Unfortunately, a significant number of individuals have difficulty either falling asleep or staying asleep for the 7 to 8 hours recommended by the National Institutes of Health. (However, this is a general recommendation and varies by both age and the individual. For example, infants need on average about 16 hours of sleep per day, teenagers approximately 9 hours, adults the 7 to 8 recommended hours, with older adults requiring about the same as younger adults or up to 9 hours sleep.) Between 50 million and 70 million individuals are impacted by sleep-related problems. This is a serious issue, as sleep is a neurobiological need. The ultimate result of sustained sleep loss can be death. Not only is a significant percentage of the U.S. population impacted by sleep disorders, sleep has also become a big business; there are over 2,800 U.S.-based sleep centers. Sleep center revenue is expected to climb to $4.4 billion by the year 2011, and this does not account for the estimated $3 billion in revenue to pharmaceutical companies from the 43 million prescriptions written annually for sleep disorders.

The National Institutes of Health has classified over 80 types of sleep disorders. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) organizes sleep disorders into four major categories: primary sleep disorders, sleep disorder related to another mental disorder, sleep disorder due to a general medical condition, and substance-induced sleep disorder. Included within these categories causing sleep disturbance are psychiatric illnesses like depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); medical or biological contributors like hypertension and coronary artery disease; situational contributors of shift work, poor environment, and jet lag; medicine or drugs, which includes alcohol, stimulants, and narcotics; and numerous others like sleep apnea, genetics, ethnicity, and the aging process. It appears from all the data that the United States is becoming a sleep-deprived nation. The good news is that there is rapidly growing attention to this problem, as more than $110 million has been invested in sleep related research since 1996.