Demanding world takes its toll on sleep

October 02, 2005|By Stephanie Earls, Albany Times Union

ALBANY, N.Y. — Self-help guru Norman Vincent Peale once observed that Americans were so wound up that not even a sermon could put them to sleep anymore.

Today, chasing those elusive winks has become something of a national pastime. Since 1999, the number of people claiming to have sleep problems has risen steadily, according to studies by the National Sleep Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group that is dedicated to improving understanding of sleep and sleep disorders.

In a 2005 poll by the foundation, 75 percent of respondents said that at least a few nights a week they struggled with a sleep problem (from delayed sleep onset to problems in an intimate relationship due to tiredness).

"It's just so much easier not to sleep now," said Paul Glovinsky, a clinical psychologist and sleep-clinic director. "There are things to do all the time--clubs open, you could e-mail or bank all night long. There's more competing activity chipping away at sleep."

Plus, let's face it: It's cool to be tired. Being tired means you're in demand. You didn't snooze, you didn't lose.

"Supposedly, Edison got by on a few hours of sleep. You hear about CEOs of companies boasting about how little sleep they get," Glovinsky said.

But at what price a quick and simple slumberland?

One might ask Eminem. In mid-August, the 32-year-old rapper entered treatment for an addiction to Ambien, a prescription sleep aid that since its introduction 12 years ago has soared to the top of the pharmaceutical charts.

"We don't require much rest, so we tend to go until we drop. Kind of like racehorses, racing until falling over," a member of the rapper's family told The Detroit Free Press, explaining that insomnia ran on the maternal side.

The Free Press reported that the rapper began to increase his dosage when sleep continued to elude him during his recent U.S. tour. However, studies have found that higher dosages of Ambien keep users awake rather than put them to sleep.

"People do a lot of bad things in terms of trying to help themselves fall asleep," said Dr. David Strumpf, of Pulmonary and Critical Care Services in Albany and Troy, N.Y., and the medical director of the center's sleep laboratory. "Sleep is like a lot of things. It takes time, and we don't have a lot of patience."

Pills' effectiveness

Sleeping pills like Ambien and Sonata are only meant for temporary use, however, and have been shown to become less effective if taken for long periods.

Breaking out of the sleeping pill habit can be tough, for both the mind and body.

"With a lot of these pills there is a withdrawal syndrome," Glovinsky said. "Anything that's sedating, if you stop taking it, can cause rebound insomnia."

When it first came onto the market, Ambien offered the sleep-challenged a new option: a sleeping pill that worked fast and wore off fast, so users didn't feel groggy the next day. Earlier sleep aids, like chloral hydrate and Valium, and the controversial Halcion in the 1980s, could interfere with concentration and thinking.

Times could be changing for the chronically sleep-challenged, though.

Lunesta, which hit the market earlier this year, has been shown in clinical trials to maintain its effectiveness for longer periods. Rozerem, due next month, is the first prescription sleeping pill not classified as a Schedule IV controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Rozerem targets a different part of the brain than previous drugs to trigger drowsiness.

Lunesta and Rozerem are the first sleep aids approved by the Food and Drug Administration for long-term use.

Which means the management of insomnia with drugs could become a way of life for many.

"A lot of drugs are being marketed for lifestyle, as opposed to more narrow indications," Glovinsky said. "I think there is a danger that it will be sort of accepted that you need to manipulate your level of arousal."