Lack of sleep can lead to array of ailments

Most of us at one time or another experience personal energy crises like the one that embarrassed a Cedar Rapids police officer photographed while napping at the wheel of a parked squad car last week.

The officer, who was disciplined but not publicly identified, joins a growing list of people whose inappropriate but often understandable drowsiness has put them in the public spotlight including sleeping airline pilots and air traffic controllers, as well as, closer to home, former Cedar Rapids Mayor Kay Halloran.

“A lot of us are sleeping a lot less than we used to,” said Dr. Mark Dyken, director of the Sleep Disorder Center at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Dyken cited a National Sleep Foundation study that found the average amount of sleep reported by middle age individuals decreased by about one hour per night (from eight to nine hours per night to seven to eight hours per night) between 1959 and 1992,

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month that 35 percent of people slept less than the recommended seven to nine hours per night, and 38 percent admitted they unintentionally fell asleep during the day at least once in the preceding month.

While some sleep deprivation is caused by physical ailments, such as the obstructive sleep apnea that sapped Halloran's energy in 2008, much of it is voluntary, Dyken said.

“With more demands on their time, many people today want to pack more into their day, and they often do so by cutting back on sleep,” said Asani Seawell, an associate psychology professor at Grinnell College.

Stress, some of which certainly derives from the nation's shaky economy, also keeps people awake when they should be sleeping, Seawell said.

Apart from impaired alertness and productivity, sleep deprivation can cause irritability and lead to a host of ailments, including headaches, hypertension, weakened immune system and weight gains or losses. Danger heightens when sleepy people take the wheel.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that each year drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries and 1,550 fatalities.

Night shift workers, like the Cedar Rapids police officer who was photographed near the end of his overnight shift, are most prone to sleep deprivation, according to Dyken.

“We function best and are most alert when we sleep at night,” he said.

Sleep's essential restorative power has been dramatically underscored by experiments in which sleep-deprived rats died within 16 to 20 days of sleeplessness, Dyken said.

Since crime never sleeps, many police officers face the additional challenge of remaining alert during 10-hour overnight shifts, according to Sgt. Cristy Hamblin, the public information officer for the Cedar Rapids police.

Of the department's 140 patrol officers, 51 work day shifts, while 89 work one of the following three night shifts: 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. or 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., she said. Hamlin recalls the nearly three years she spent on the midnight shift as “a foggy and blurry” time of her life.

“I never knew whether I was coming or going,” said Hamblin, who was pregnant during part of that stint and had a young daughter to get off to school.

Coffee, long the preferred antidote for drowsiness, has been increasingly supplemented by energy drinks since the 1997 American introduction of Red Bull.

Caffeine, the principal ingredient in both coffee and energy drinks, has been shown to improve human performance in motor and cognitive tests, according to Dyken.

“You wouldn't even believe how much energy drink we sell,” said Cindy Schultz, manager of the Guppy's On The Go convenience store in Postville.

Shift workers at the Agri Star meat packing plant ensure that the store sells more energy drinks than soft drinks, she said.

College students, who often deprive themselves of sleep to prepare for exams, are among the leading energy drink customers at the In-Zone convenience store on East Washington Street in Iowa City, according to manager Dave Hill.

Sales of energy drinks, which students regularly purchase as hangover remedies, peak during finals week, he said.

Hill, who prefers the AdvoCare product, said it “increases your mental focus and brightens you up with no subsequent crash.”