Jun. 2--Your midweek yawns may be a sign of more than just a bad night sleep.
A new study indicates insomnia may plague up to 70 million Americans, many of whom are undiagnosed.
At least $42 billion in direct and indirect annual health care costs also are a result of the sleep disorder, according to Waking Up to the Insomnia Crisis, a study by Sanofi-aventis U.S. and the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.
People with insomnia miss twice as much work as those without the sleep disorder, the study says.
And the disorder costs employers more than four days of wages for each untreated worker during a six-month period.
"In order to break insomnia out of the 'lifestyle condition' box in which it has been placed, we must be able to engage and educate patients, health care professionals, health insurers, and employers on different terms," Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, said in a statement. "For each audience, a new understanding of insomnia is imperative if we hope to successfully change attitudes and action."
For more about the study visit www.cmpi.org.
-- Ingrid Stegemoeller: 582-1537; istegemoeller@tricityherald.com; Business Beat blog at www.tricityherald.com
Report breaking news.
-- Ingrid Stegemoeller: 582-1537; istegemoeller@tricityherald.com; Business Beat blog at www.tricityherald.com
-----
To see more of the Tri-City Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tri-cityherald.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.