The American Academy of Sleep Medicine pleads for better consideration of sleep disorders.
- The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recalls that it is as important for health as good nutrition or the practice of regular physical exercise.
- In the United States, adults and children combined, lack of sleep affects one in three people
Sleep is essential for good health! It seems self-evident, but 25 medical organizations, scientists, patient associations and safety organizations have just deemed it useful to publish a statement to remind us of the biological necessity of sleep. In this text published online on the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine website, the signatories explain that it would be necessary to place greater emphasis on the importance of sleep in clinical practice and hospital care, the promotion of health public, in educational pathways and in the workplace.
“Healthy sleep is as important as good nutrition and regular exercise for our health and well-being,” says Dr. Kannan Ramar, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) in this text. recalling the “important and multidimensional” links of sleep with health and chronic disease.
Strengthening the place of sleep in medical studies
And the authors of this statement put forward several proposals aimed at putting sleep back at the heart of attention:
– Give a place of choice to sleep education in the curriculum of schoolchildren, college and high school students, in medical faculties and in educational programs intended for other health professionals;
– Systematic consideration by physicians during consultations with their patients of their sleep habits or disorders and their circadian rhythm and optimization of sleep conditions in hospitals and long-term care establishments;
– Better information in the workplace on the benefits of healthy sleep and on the behaviors that help preserve or find good sleep;
– An acceleration of research on sleep and circadian rhythms.
In the United States, insufficient sleep for one in three adults and children
“Education on sleep and sleep disorders is lacking in medical school curricula when better sleep health education would provide more patient-centered care for all those who suffer from common sleep such as sleep apnea or insomnia”, insists Dr. Kannan Ramar.
The AASM recalls that untreated sleep disorders are linked to increased risks for cardiovascular health, diabetes, obesity, work and traffic accidents. According to a recent survey conducted in the United States, more than one in three adults or children cannot get enough sleep, a proportion that rises to nearly 75% among high school students.
