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Ed Yeates ReportingResearchers from all over the country and abroad are in Salt Lake City this week talking about sleep, or the lack of it, which according to them has reached epidemic proportions.
Researchers say 40 million Americans are sleeping less and less with each decade. It's gotten so bad, some suggest primary care physicians should be screening for it as part of routine physical exams.
We're snoozing everywhere. And in cars, it's not just long distance driving, but driving anywhere, anytime of the day. In a recent study by the National Highway Safety Administration..
Dr. David Dinges/ University of Pennsylvania Medical School: "Cameras in the faces of drivers and then looking ahead to a hundred cars, nationally, and low and behold, drowsy driving is incredibly common, and unbelievably risky for crashes or near crash events."
Lapses in concentration, the inability to study effectively, and more critical consequences, including a disorder which is also at epidemic proportions.
Dr. Dinges: "There are now at least a dozen studies that indicate-- and these are across the globe, not just in the U.S. They're in Europe. They're in Asia. They indicate the less we sleep, the fatter we get."
A new study to be released this week shows because people are spending more time driving to get to jobs farther away, they're leaving earlier in the morning and going to bed later at night, squeezing sleep time at both ends.
How to make up for lost sleep time? One researcher is suggesting corporations give employees time for a siesta or a nap.
Dr. Dinges: "There are lots of studies that show naps are quite beneficial for supplementing lost sleep at night. The challenge we face is fitting it into the job or workplace."
Though naps help, researchers here say nothing can make up that lost seven to eight hours of sleep per night.
