THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 14, 1995 TAG: 9509140053
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
SO YOU THINK sleep isn't any big deal just eight (or in your case, probably less) wasted hours of do-nothingness.
Consider the case of a patient whom J. Catesby Ware worked with in another part of the country:
The man tended to nod off behind the wheel on his way home from work. He had learned all the tricks to stay awake. He kept his windows open in the winter and his air conditioner blasting in the summer. He sang. He slapped himself and bounced on the seat. He drank a cold drink, ate something or chewed ice.
One day, he let his guard down just a little as he turned the car into his street. He didn't even feel himself nodding off.
His car jumped the curb and killed his neighbor's son, who was playing in the front yard.
Sleep is very important.
A rat completely deprived of sleep will die. Scientists have known that for years. But they still don't know why we need to sleep, or how it happens, or why sleeping pills work.
Research ``has been going on for 15 years now, and they can't find out why the rats die,'' Ware said.
It's not an academic question. Many people, and their doctors, don't recognize the signs of a sleep disorder. Poor sleep can be the root of a lot of medical problems, from high blood pressure to senility. Even a problem that used to be considered annoying but unimportant - snoring - may be the sign of big trouble.
Ware believes a significant number of car accidents are caused by people who nod off behind the wheel, either because they have a disorder that ruins their sleep or because they just don't spend enough time in bed.
``There should be a Mothers Against Sleep Drivers,'' Ware said.
At least two of his patients have been pulled over while driving because they were nodding off and weaving around the road.
``Realizing they weren't drunk, the officers - both times - said, `OK,' and let them go to weave their way on home,'' Ware said. ``In both cases, they shouldn't have been driving.''
It's a societal problem.
``Our whole culture is a sleep-deprived culture,'' Ware said. Partly it's because of shift work, he said. Employers could design night shifts to make it easier for their workers to get a good sleep, but nobody takes it seriously.
``Probably all major employers around here have people working shift schedules that are terrible,'' Ware said. ``I don't know any company in this area that tries to maximize the way they do their shift.''
And many people who work normal hours simply don't allow themselves enough sleep.
Ever nodded off during a boring staff meeting? Well, that's not normal. And you shouldn't need extra sleep on weekends.
``A hot room, a boring speaker, dull subject matter is not enough to put people to sleep,'' Ware said.
Most people need eight hours of sleep; some need more. Some can get by on less, although studies have shown that many who claim to need less are wrong.
``Fewer people can get by on five hours than say can get by on five hours,'' he said. And ``everybody hits the wall at four hours.''
A person who cheats himself out of two hours every night will become ``pathologically sleepy'' - in danger of falling asleep at any time - after five days, Ware said.
``Like bankers, the body keeps bugging you to pay back that sleep loss,'' he said.
Fortunately, most of us get time off after five days and catch up on lost sleep.
Why are we so reluctant to spend time on sleep? Part of it, Ware said, is that sleep time seems so unproductive.
``A third of your time spent lying in bed that you have nothing to show for. It's tough to justify,'' he said.
KEYWORDS: SLEEP DISORDERS by CNB