Staying up until 1 a.m. every night? Such has been the trend at most college campuses for years. But a new study released this week by the National Sleep Foundation suggests Americans in general are now sleeping less and suffering negative health consequences as a result.
"Sleep is a health, safety and performance necessity, not a luxury -- and Americans are not getting enough of it,'' said Ronald Krall, president of the National Sleep Foundation. "There is an epidemic of sleepiness in our society."
The foundation's report showed that 63 percent of all American adults do not get the recommended eight hours of sleep per night, and 31 percent of all adults report sleeping less than seven hours per night.
Nearly seven out of every 10 people who responded to the study experienced frequent sleep problems, including difficulty falling asleep, waking up in the night, feeling unrefreshed upon rising and snoring. Adults with children and those not happy with their marriages were particularly susceptible to sleep disorders, the survey showed. Men snored more than women, but women were more liable to suffer from insomnia.
"How long you live is statistically related to the amount of sleep you obtain on average a night," concluded the foundation's report. "The mortality rate is lowest for people who report sleeping seven to nine hours a night. Even a single night of sleeping for five hours will dull a person's attention span and mental abilities and repeatedly sleeping for only four hours can aggravate conditions including hypertension, diabetes and obesity."
The results of the study proved particularly damaging to the night owl collegiate types, however. Going to sleep late at night can be detrimental to one's health, even if one does sleep the full eight hours by waking up late.
"We get the most refreshing sleep from 9 to 10 p.m. to about 5 to 7 a.m., due to the cycle of melatonin and other hormones," said Dr. David Davila, medical director of the Baptist Health Sleep Disorders Center in Little Rock, Ark.
Because of the busy nature of their lives, many University of Memphis students are not able to fit in the proper amounts of sleep at the right times.
"I almost had a car accident last semester because I would usually get in home after work at midnight or later and then I had an eight o'clock class the next day," said U of M student Jennifer Jones. "I realized then that I had to cut back on school or work."
The problem of shuffling various responsibilities reported by Jones is common. U of M student Craig Martin's daily life follows a similar pattern.
"I am always out late and I seem to make it to all my classes," Martin said. "I guess I get an average of five or six hours of sleep on weeknights."
Students like Jones and Martin often sleep in on the weekends, hoping to make up sleep lost during the week. This type of oversleeping, called "banking" by experts, does not help reduce the risks associated with sleep deprivation, according to Davila. The sleep experts agree that it's best to try to have as regular a sleep routine as possible, with an optimum range of seven and a half to nine hours of sleep per night.
The study also revealed that people who exercise and engage in sexual activity on a regular basis are less likely to have problems sleeping. In addition, among people who report working 50 hours or more per week, there is a greater incidence of sleep disorders and a lower average number of hours slept per night.
For more information on sleep deprivation, interested students can explore the Sleep Foundation website at www.sleepfoundation.org. Students with persistent sleep-related problems such as insomnia should contact their family physicians for an evaluation.
