If you’re feeling sleep deprived you aren’t alone.
Toledo is the 16th most sleep-deprived city among the top 25 cities, according to a recent study by HotDog.com. The study found that 43.5 percent of Toledo residents are sleep deprived.
University of Toledo sociology professor Karie Peralta, Ph.D, said Toledo’s high rates of sleep deprivation can be attributed to the city’s large working class population. The HotDog.com survey found a correlation between income and sleep deprivation. Thirty-five percent of individuals that have an annual salary between $25,000 to $50,000 reported less than seven hours of sleep per night.
“If we’re thinking about socioeconomic factors and how people are exploited in the workforce, people are under the stress of trying to make ends meet,” Ms. Peralta said. “And on top of that, with the pandemic, [they are] worried about one’s health and one’s family’s health. All of that is compounded then and has an effect on people’s ability to sleep. And not just their ability to sleep, but also the amount of time that they’re able to sleep.”
The survey found that Detroit has the most sleep deprived adults with 51.2 percent reporting less than seven hours of sleep per night. Cleveland was No. 2 with 50.2 percent sleep deprived residents and Memphis at No. 3 with 47.9 percent reporting sleep deprivation.
The study analyzed cities in the U.S. with at least 100,000 residents.
According to the CDC recommendations, adults should sleep for at least seven hours per night. Based on the CDC’s minimum recommendation, HotDog.com researchers calculated the number of adults who reported less than seven hours of sleep per night.
Sleep deprivation has a wide range of short and long term health risks. According to the survey, lack of sleep showed connections to a person’s increased chance of developing a chronic illness such as diabetes, heart diseases, obesity, and depression.
“Sleep is this overlooked public health problem, and [sleep is] free,” said Dr. Mary-Jo Ludy, Bowling Green State University Department Chair of Public and Allied Health. “And when I think about sleep, just in a general sense, there are a few things that you can do better to improve your memory, improve your concentration, improve your health. And it’s free and it just gets overlooked.”
Dr. Kathryn Williams, a pulmonary and sleep medicine doctor at ProMedica, said sleep deprivation is split into two parts: behavioral and medical. Individuals who choose to sleep less than seven hours fall under the behavioral sleep deprivation category.
Dr. Williams noted that for some, sleep can be a luxury. Individuals who take care of family members may not have the time frame to sleep for the recommended seven hours.
“Sometimes life gets in the way and the schedules that you have are just those that you can’t avoid,” Dr. Williams said. “So if that’s the case, get as much as you can, even if it is the five or six hours, the most quality sleep. [And] you’re avoiding your electronics.”
The recommended hours per night ranges based on an individual’s age. Adults between 18 to 60 are suggested to sleep at least seven hours a night on a regular basis, University of Toledo sleep medicine specialist Dr. Andre Aguillon said.
A lack of sleep can decrease the brain’s activity, which results in slow cognition or cognitive confusion, Dr. Aguillon said.
“All this can cause lower productivity and increased risk of errors and accidents. And also with sleep deprivation, it can cause decreased or compromised emotional processing,” he observed. “So that would lead to, for example, depressed mood and, of course, symptoms of sleepiness and fatigue.”
HotDog.com’s research for Toledo supports the idea that sleep deprivation is tied to an increase in chronic illnesses. Among Toledo adults, 14.2 percent are diabetic, 7.7 percent have heart diseases, 39.5 percent are obese, and 24.4 percent suffer from depression.
Dr. Williams said a range of factors increase likelihood of chronic illnesses. When people feel tired, they’ll turn to sugary drinks, caffeinated beverages, or nicotine products. Sleep deprivation’s connection to chronic illnesses is causality, Dr. Williams said.
Chronic illnesses can also impact one’s chance of developing a sleep disorder.
“That’s kind of that circular pattern,” Dr. Williams said. “And I think we see a lot of that with sleep apnea. You’re so sleepy in mornings, sleepy in the afternoon, you drink caffeine to keep you awake and then additionally, you have some difficulty then falling asleep and then you’re not getting quality sleep or consolidated sleep, if you will, for the rest of the night.”
Ms. Ludy’s research with Shannon Smith and Robin Tucker found that following less than seven hours of rest, individuals had an increase in sweet taste and reduced the numbers of steps taken throughout the day.
She said that uptake in sweet preference can be linked to metabolic changes.
“I think that there are just some low level metabolic changes going on. And if you’re thinking too that short amount of sleep deprivation, it influences your attention, it influences your concentration, it influences your mood,” she said.
Lack of sleep can also impact social relationships.
“We know the connection of sleep deprivation and social isolation that people with greater sleep deprivation are not only more likely to self isolate, but also are in a way rejected,” Ms. Peralta said. “There’s greater social rejection because they’re seen as less desirable people because they may be more irritable. They may be less positive. And so there’s those two things going on. They self-select into social isolation, but are also more socially rejected.”
A consistent sleep schedule can help an individual improve their sleep quality, Dr. Aguillon said.
“You have to maintain a regular sleep schedule as much as possible,” Dr. Aguillon said. “I know we use the weekends as our catch up sleep, but it’s important to try to keep your sleep schedule as consistent and as regular as possible, in terms of having a consistent bedtime and having consistent wake time.”
To address behavioral sleep deprivation, Ms. Ludy suggested avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and long naps towards the end of the day. Increasing one’s amount of sleep in small increments — 15 or 20 minutes — can help one build towards sleeping at least seven hours.
First Published May 1, 2022, 4:00 a.m.
