by Terrence Aym

Created on: May 11, 2010

While it's estimated millions of Americans have sleep disorders, doctors report more cases diagnosed every year.

Most sleep disorders are traceable to a variety of causes: eating disorders, stress, depression and heavy smoking are but a few. One of the recently recognized sleep disorders is Shift Work Sleep Disorder (SWSD), also known as Shift Work Disorder (SWD), shift work change (SWC) and shift lag.

SWSD gets its name from the condition that causes it. People who work nights or often rotate shifts are affected. The problem arises from a conflict with the body's natural Circadian rhythm governing sleep—the same disruption that can cause jet lag.

Unlike jet lag, however, SWSD is chronic because of the recurrent sleep interruption. Individuals that are affected experience sleeplessness and excessive sleepiness at irregular hours. According to experts, the disorder is most prevalent among people working the late night and early morning hours between  10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Robert C. Basner, M.D., of the Duke University Medical Center notes that "As many as 20 percent of workers in industrialized nations are shift workers — in other words, people who work either at night or on rotating shifts.1 Shift-work sleep disorder, defined as a primary complaint of insomnia or excessive sleepiness temporally associated with a work period that occurs during the habitual sleep phase,2 has been diagnosed in as many as 10 percent of shift workers.3 Shift workers overall appear to  be at increased risk for peptic ulcer disease, coronary heart  disease, insulin resistance, and the metabolic syndrome,4,5  as well as for sleep deprivation, depression [and] sleepiness-related  accidents ..."

American statistics

Experts estimate that approximately 15 million Americans have a nontraditional work schedules and of the 15 million as many as 3.75 million are susceptible to SWSD.

Currently, medical statistics indicate that about 10% to 25% of all night workers and rotating-shift workers in th US are suffering from one or more of the symptoms of SWSD. This means that at any given time up to 1 out 4 night or rotating-shift workers might have SWSD without recognizing the condition.

Symptoms and consequences

Other than insomnia and excessive sleepiness, symptoms of SWSD include chronic headaches, difficulty in concentrating and a pronounced lack of energy.

Sufferers of SWSD will notice an increased amount of accidents, forgetfulness, work-related errors, increased irritability

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>