Modern life makes 'recipe' for sleeplessness

Dr. Joseph Krainin's passion is sleep. It's what he trained for. Still, in the weeks since he launched Singular Sleep (See story, page 1), he's learned just how poor a grasp the average person has about sleep health. Krainin recently spoke with HME News about why sleep is so important and what's impacting our ability to sleep.

HME News: We talk a lot about sleep apnea rates increasing, but are you seeing an increase in other sleep disorders?

Joseph Krainin: Definitely. I would say that there are strong indicators that rates of insufficient sleep or chronic sleep deprivation and insomnia are increasing. We see an overall trend of increased stress. People are juggling increasing work demands with child rearing and family responsibility. Throw in financial stress associated with the sluggish economic recovery from the recession and you have a recipe for a sleepless night.

HME: Do people tend to think certain sleep disorders like insomnia are a nuisance rather than a serious problem?

Krainin: It's looking more and more like insomnia isn't necessarily the benign condition that we in the medical community have always thought it was. For example, there's mounting evidence that those with chronic insomnia have higher rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality.

HME: Will using a smart phone at night really interfere with sleep?

Krainin: Blue light, which is a large component of the light that's emitted from these devices, suppresses the natural release of melatonin. People are always on the computer or smart phone, which is reducing the amounts of sleep people get.