May 6, 2009 11:50 pm US/Eastern
HealthWatch: Overcoming Chronic Sleep Deprivation
There Are Ways To Tackle These Debilitating Disorders
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Chronic sleep deprivation can have serious consequences, from poor work performance to dangerous accidents.
Often, medical problems are to blame for the problems getting enough shut eye, but there are ways to tackle sleep disorders.
Shonna Valeska just thought being tired was a normal part of having a busy life, until one day she fell asleep driving.
"I was tired during the day, a lot. And I kept saying, 'oh I'm so tired, I'm so tired,'" Valeska said. "Yeah, I banged into a car ahead of me."
Thankfully the accident was minor, but it was a wakeup call that her sleep problems were out of control. It was time to see the doctor, who gave her a formal sleep questionnaire.
"On the test there were questions like do you tend to fall asleep if you're in a meeting? Do you tend to fall asleep if you're reading a book? Do you tend to sometimes fall asleep when you're behind the wheel? Like that," Valeska said.
She answered yes to so many questions she was scheduled for an overnight sleep study at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.
"They hook you up to all these things with this gooey stuff and then you got like 20, like an octopus. You know, a couple octopus' coming out of your head," Valeska said.
The sleep study, also called a polysomnogram, records brain waves, muscle and heart activity, and eye movements while you sleep.
It's the best way to diagnose the many medical conditions that disrupt sleep, including sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian rhythm problems, restless legs syndrome and abnormal sleep behaviors such as sleep walking, sleep driving and sleep eating.
The amount of sleep we need changes based on age. In our teens and 20s, eight hours is in order. Older adults need closer seven and a half and seniors may require just six and a half hours a night.
But sleep disorders can affect everyone.
It turned out Valeska had severe sleep apnea.
"That is the disorder which occurs when people are fast asleep their breathing stops, repeatedly," Dr. Charles P. Pollak said.
Added Valeska: "I stopped breathing for 16 to 20 seconds a minute and up to 28 times in an hour."
After being treated with a breathing machine at night and medication, Valeska said she feels like a kid again.
"Now I'm more back to, you know, what I was in my 20s," she said.
Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked with medical problems including heart disease, depression and a weakened immune system.
You know you're getting enough sleep if you feel refreshed when you wake up and still alert by the end of the day. One in three Americans has trouble getting to sleep on a regular basis. Stress in the number one reason cited.
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