Most Americans do not sleep enough — expert

Press, 15 July 1985, Page 17

Most Americans do not sleep enough — expert

NZPA-AP Seattle More than 90 per cent of Americans experience needless drowsiness and fatigue simply because they do not get enough sleep, says the president ,of the Association of Sleep Disorders Centres. Dr William Dement, a Stanford University professor, was one of more than 500 researchers and physicians at a week-long meeting of the Sleep Disorders Centres and the Sleep Research Society, called the “Mysteries of the Sleeping Brain.”

"Some 50 million Americans are insomniacs, but I think Americans are chronically sleep-deprived,” he said. “We talk about things that make us sleepy — a heavy meal, a warm room, or a dull book. But in reality, these things just unmask our sleep deprivation.

“If we were fully rested, we wouldn’t get sleepy. “Most people need between six and 10 hours a night,” he said. “I wouldn’t put much emphasis on the six.” A Stanford researcher, Mary Carskadon, traced a group of children into their second decade of life. “The children aged 10, 11, and 12 typically slept nine hours and 45 minutes each night of continuous, deep, solid, wonderful sleep,” Dr Dement said.

“During the daytime, they were optimally alert and energetic,” he said. “Nothing made them sleepy.” Later, as they became teenagers, their sleep remained consistent but they became progressively sleepier, indicating that they needed even more sleep — probably about 10 hours, he said.

“Nobody gets it,” he said.

“The lack of sleep that plagues society can be overcome by stimulants, including coffee, cigarettes, angry

teachers, and yelling bosses,” Dr Dement said. Insomniacs, who usually want to sleep longer, actually sleep more than they think they do, researchers said.

Dr Art Spielman, of New York University, said insomniacs should limit the time they can spend in bed. If an insomniac spends nine hours in bed, and a carefully prepared sleep log shows he typically sleeps only five hours, that patient should be restricted to five hours of sleep. The morning waking time should be kept consistent, Dr Spielman said.

Gradually, the patient would sleep more efficiently, and the time in bed could be increased in 15minute increments, he said. “The purpose is to regulate sleep,” he said. “You squeeze the low-grade sleeping time out if you minimise the time in bed. You consolidate sleep and eliminate the wakefulness.”

Dr Spielman said the regimen works, but only if patients stick with it for weeks.

In addition to excessive time in bed, Dr Spielman reports that some insomniacs have other bad habits — an irregular bedtime and rising schedule, napping, use of drugs and alcohol and the development of a conditioned, negative response to bedtime.