Experts issue wake-up call on risks of sleep loss

By JAN CORBETT

Ignorance about the importance of sleep and delays in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders are becoming serious health and safety risks, say researchers.

A four-year study of more than 700 people published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows sufferers of sleep apnoea are up to three times more likely to develop high blood pressure.

Sleep apnoea sufferers temporarily stop breathing - and half-wake as they start to choke - hundreds of times a night.

International studies have also linked the condition with strokes, heart attacks and car crashes caused by exhausted victims dozing at the wheel.

But Green Lane Hospital's sleep clinic is funded to see only 350 of the 1000 suspected sleep apnoea sufferers referred to it each year. Clinic head Dr Ken Whyte says that leaves Aucklanders waiting up to seven years to be diagnosed and treated. "Most of these patients will not ever get seen."

Modern lifestyle pressures also put us at increased risk of losing concentration or falling asleep in dangerous situations. The Land Transport Safety Authority says 8 per cent of fatal road crashes and 5 per cent of crash-related injuries are caused by fatigue.

This week, Wellington Medical School sleep researcher Dr Philippa Gander released the results of a survey showing that 86 per cent of anaesthetists have made fatigue-related errors. She wants better public education on the importance of a good night's sleep to our wellbeing and safety.

Dr Gander is involved in a study to measure the incidence of sleep apnoea among New Zealand adults to better inform doctors who often overlook the condition.

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