Obesity and Poverty: Is Anybody Sleeptalking?

There’s an interesting topic by Megan McArdle about obesity and poverty at Atlantic.com. No surprise, there is no discussion about the sleep angle, so I added my comment there, which you can read below:

Sleep is an important link between obesity and poverty. Obesity radically drives up the risk of suffering from sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), a condition that destroys your sleep by two distinct processes: sleep fragmentation and oxygen fluctuations and desaturations. Both processes are very damaging to the brain, producing both temporary and irreversible changes in cognitive function most notable in the areas of attention, concentration and memory. As you would expect, these changes result in a lower IQ either permanently if the condition continues too long untreated or temporarily if the condition is reversed with proper treatment.

Some years ago we published information about two small studies on sleep disorders among individuals in welfare-to-work programs. The most striking finding was that more than 50% of these individuals, who were predominantly women, reported symptoms consistent with serious and complex sleep disorders likely to be compromising their intellectual function. These disorders included SDB, chronic insomnia, chronic nightmares, and sleep-related leg movement conditions. Many of the participants in our study were obese as well.

I have long advocated the use of sleep evaluations (and essential treatment) by various service programs that help individuals in lower socio-economic situations. The likely impact in terms of health benefits, quality of life,work performance, productivity, and cost-savings would no doubt be huge and certainly something for policymakers to “sleep on.”

You can find more discussion about sleep disorders and their impact on health, wealth, and quality of life at my blog: http://www.sleepdynamictherapy.com.