About this episode
Author: Sam Killian, MD Educational Pearls: Insufficient sleep and disrupted circadian rhythms are a major health problem today Millions of dollars, thousands of deaths, and millions of injuries are related to sleep deprivation every year 56 billion dollars - 24,000 deaths - 2.5 million disabiling injuries related to a sleep-type deprivation Exxon valdez, challanger, chyrnobel linked to sleep deprivation- at least partially Data has shown that in the Spring (when people lose an hour of sleep) there were 8% more traffic accidents on the Monday immediately after daylight savings. Conversely, in the Fall (when people gain an hour of sleep), there were 8% fewer traffic accidents on the Monday immediately after daylight savings. Studies have also shown an increased risk of myocardial infarction in Spring immediately after daylight savings, and a decreased risk of myocardial infarction in the Fall immediately after daylight savings. References: Corren S. Traffic Accidents and Daylight Saving Time. New England Journal of Medicine . 1996;335(5):355-357. doi:10.1056/nejm199608013350517 Janszky I, Ljung R. Shifts to and from Daylight Saving Time and Incidence of Myocardial Infarction. New England Journal of Medicine . 2008;359(18):1966-1968. doi:10.1056/nejmc0807104.