A recent report from The Huffington Post examines the results of a survey on the sleep habits of adults.
Are you a sleep worker? No, not a sleepwalker, but a person who goes to work and attempts to function on too little sleep.
It turns out, one-third of American workers are sleep working — not getting enough sleep to function at peak levels, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School.
According to a new sleep survey conducted by One Poll, 1,000 people aged 18 to 55+ were asked a series of questions about their sleep habits. Here are some of the findings:
- Ninety-one percent of the respondents revealed that they either always or sometimes wake up in the middle of the night.
- As a result, almost 40% of the participants said they felt exhausted when they woke up in the morning, and another 36% reported feeling either irritated or frustrated.
The results of this survey are quite compelling, because it shows that approximately 76% of adults (or three in every four people) are not experiencing their maximum potential each and every day, especially while at work or their place of business.
While there could be many reasons people wake up in the middle of the night or feel “unrested” after apparently sleeping six to eight hours, the biggest reason is most likely due to Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder affecting over 18 million adults. It occurs when breathing is briefly and repeatedly interrupted during sleep. The “apnea” in sleep apnea refers to a breathing pause that lasts at least 10 seconds. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the back of the throat fail to keep the airway open, despite efforts to breathe.
For people with sleep apnea, the combination of disturbed sleep and oxygen starvation may lead to hypertension, heart disease, mood and memory problems, weight gain and even sudden death. Falling asleep while driving is the number one cause of automobile accidents and can be directly linked to sleep apnea.
What causes sleep apnea?
There are a number of factors that increase risk, including having a small upper airway (or large tongue, tonsils or uvula), being overweight, having a recessed chin, small jaw or a large overbite, a large neck size (17 inches or greater in a man or 16 inches or greater in a woman), smoking and alcohol use and being age 40 or older.
As the New Year begins and many of us are putting our health as a top priority for 2016, why not let us help you uncover a potentially life threatening and certainly, life altering condition?
We offer a complimentary sleep apnea screening (takes 15 minutes) where we can evaluate and give you information that could help you be the best you can be each and every day and potentially save your life.
Call 916-435-8000 or 530-274-4411 to schedule your free screening in one of our three locations, Salinas, Grass Valley or El Dorado Hills.
