More and more Germans suffer from sleep disorders

More and more Germans suffer from sleep disorders

21/10/2013

With many who have found no restful sleep at night, the following day shows a significantly reduced performance. Meanwhile, around 7.4 million Germans are affected by sleep disorders and the trend is increasing.

One of the factors responsible for this is the increasing stress at work, which many employees also work on at home after work. Often the problem is not recognized or treated incorrectly. However, the constant accessibility and increasing shift work also play their part, said the chairman of the German Society for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine (DGSM), Alfred Wiater, in Wiesbaden. At the annual meeting of the DGSM, around 2000 physicians, scientists and practitioners discussed new findings.

Often wrong treatments
For the economic consequences of lost work and past pensions, society has yet to shell out as much as for medical treatment, said Wiater. However, many sufferers are often treated incorrectly, said Hans-Günter Weeß, an expert on sleep disorders. In most cases, patients are given medications that do not combat the psychological causes and are addictive. Behavioral therapies promise greater success. Sleep disorders should not be underestimated because they are a risk factor for the entire health, according to the conference president Richard Schulz. Nocturnal breathing pauses can cause a high blood pressure, which carries a higher risk of heart attacks or cardiovascular disorders. New therapies with nocturnal mask ventilation promise success, said Schulz. (Fr)