It Pays to Sleep: Prioritize Rest to Boost Health, Morale a...( Sleep Loss Costs Economy up to $15 Bi...),Health

Sleep Loss Costs Economy up to $15 Billion Each Year According to the Better Sleep Council

DALLAS, March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Now more than ever, Americans need their shut-eye. Unfortunately, sleep is usually one of the first things people scrimp on when time is short and stress is high. In a turbulent economy, nearly 30 percent of Americans lose sleep at least a few nights per week, according to a 2009 Sleep in America poll by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Lack of sleep means more than fatigue and grouchy countenance: obesity, hypertension, increased risk for stroke and diabetes, cardiac stress, depression, loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, short term memory loss have all been associated with sleep deprivation.

"Millions of Americans are feeling the financial crunch," said Craig Schwimmer, MD, MPH, FACS, founder and medical director of the Snoring Center, a medical practice dedicated to treating snoring and sleep apnea. "As a result, sleep is no longer a priority, set aside in favor of burning the midnight oil. Unfortunately, this rarely helps: the NSF found 51 percent of the American workplace reports that daytime fatigue interferes with the amount of work they get done."

Economic consequences of sleep loss cost the country an estimated $15 billion a year in increased health care costs, automobile accidents, workplace accidents, and decreased job performance, according to the Better Sleep Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public on the importance of sleep. Every day, nearly 80,000 drivers fall asleep at the wheel, leading to 100,000 crashes and 8,000 deaths per year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Over half of American adults - nearly 110 million licensed drivers - have driven when drowsy at least one within the past year; 28 percent of surveyed adults admitted to nodding off or falling asleep behind the wheel.
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