Sleep epidemiology is an emerging branch of the discipline of

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

. It is a growing field of scientific enquiry, with the first documented modern epidemiological survey being conducted in 1979. There is extensive interest in sleep research in the UK, Europe and worldwide. In the UK and US this manifests itself in research centres which often have sleep laboratories where the sleep patterns and conditions of individuals can be observed, as well as the effect of various treatments. Similarly assessment and treatment of sleep disorders is evident in health care and clinical centres, sometimes in partnership with universities.

Introduction

There is growing recognition of the importance of sleep on our health and well-being. The field of research into sleep has been mostly led by the discipline of psychology, focussing for example on

rapid eye movement sleep Rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep or REMS) is a unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds, characterized by random rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied by low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream viv ...

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

ing and

memory consolidation Memory consolidation is a category of processes that stabilize a memory trace after its initial acquisition. A memory trace is a change in the nervous system caused by memorizing something. Consolidation is distinguished into two specific processe ...

studies. Clinical and medical professionals have taken less interest in the causes and consequences of good and poor sleep. It is often used as a sign of existing disease, such as depression. More recently

Pulmonology Pulmonology (, , from Latin ''pulmō, -ōnis'' "lung" and the Greek suffix "study of"), pneumology (, built on Greek πνεύμων "lung") or pneumonology () is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving the respiratory tract. ...

has developed methods for identifying sleep-disordered breathing, such as

obstructive sleep apnea Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder and is characterized by recurrent episodes of complete or partial obstruction of the upper airway leading to reduced or absent breathing during sleep. These episod ...

. As a consequence the field of

sleep medicine Sleep medicine is a medical specialty or subspecialty devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of sleep disturbances and sleep disorder, disorders. From the middle of the 20th century, research has provided increasing knowledge and answered many ...

has become an increasingly popular sub-specialty of medicine. In order to provide evidence for this medical specialty, sleep epidemiology provides data on the incidence and prevalence of good and poor sleep. This then allows the collection of evidence for the causes and consequences of the quantity and quality of sleep in the population. Studies provide the direction for research into interventions on sleep to improve

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

and

well-being Well-being, or wellbeing, also known as wellness, prudential value or quality of life, refers to what is intrinsically valuable relative ''to'' someone. So the well-being of a person is what is ultimately good ''for'' this person, what is in th ...

. The US dominates in this field. Sleep epidemiology has provided evidence for the association between

sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

and various diseases, particularly metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, such as

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

and

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

. It is also related to known risk factors for disease such as

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

Related fields

Sleep epidemiology draws upon fields such as:

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

Journals

* Stanford Journal of Sleep Epidemiolog

References

{{Reflist

External links

British Sleep Society The British Sleep Society (BSS) was established in 1988 to support clinicians, researchers, nurses, technologists, scientists and students with an interest in sleep and sleep disorders. It acts as an umbrella organisation, with a number of roles an ...

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* Sleep Research Societ

Epidemiology Sleep medicine

Introduction

Related fields

Journals

See also

References

External links