- Email: [email protected]
Paying for Chronic Sleep Loss
Clinical Significance.—CMF injuries have been a common occurrence in the Iraq and Afghanistan armed conflicts, more common than in past wars. These injuries are the most difficult for surgeons to manage and have the worst outcomes. Service members have better body armor and access to advanced battlefield medicine, but these conflicts have included the more extensive use of explosives, which probably contributes to the increased incidence of CMF battlefield injuries that are being managed. Tracking of these injuries could be improved by including the ability to quantify the severity of the injuries, assess the outcome of selected surgical treatment approaches, increase communication between maxillofacial surgeons, estimate the resulting disability, and improve usability of
the data among various interested parties. Such a reporting and classifying approach would improve the lot of wounded service members, who are often treated at multiple institutions and by various surgeons within the military healthcare system.
Lew TA, Walker JA, Wenke JC, et al: Characterization of craniomaxillofacial battle injuries sustained by United States service members in the current conflicts of Iraq and Afghanistan. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 68:3-7, 2010 Reprints available from C Hale, Army Inst of Surgical Research, 3851 Rodger Brooke Dr, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234; e-mail: robert. [email protected]
EXTRACTS PAYING FOR CHRONIC SLEEP LOSS There is no quick fix for chronic sleep loss according to a study in Science Translational Medicine. Researchers led by Dr Daniel Cohen from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston studied short-term and long-term sleep loss combined with the body’s natural circadian rhythm. Not only is sleep loss hard to recoup, but it severely impairs later performance, especially at night when performance is naturally low. After one long night of sleep, performance is normal for about 6 hours and circadian rhythm hides the effects of sleep deprivation for the rest of the day, but ‘‘the lingering effect of chronic sleep loss causes performance to deteriorate dramatically’’ thereafter. Persons with chronic sleep loss who try to work late into the night show reaction times 10 times slower than earlier in the day. Reaction times reflect the natural 24-hour circadian rhythm: slowest in late night/early morning hours and relatively normal even with substantial sleep loss in late afternoon/early evening. Researchers found that trying to stay awake during circadian night ‘‘reveals the cumulative detrimental effects of chronic sleep loss on performance,’’ with potentially adverse health and safety consequences. Dr Elizabeth Klerman, senior author in the Division of Sleep Medicine at BWH, warns, ‘‘This may lead to a dangerous situation in which individuals do not realize the extent of their sleep deprivation and their vulnerability to sudden sleepiness.’’ Co-author D Charles Czeisler, head of the BWH Division of Sleep Medicine, believes the findings show why resident physicians working 30-hour shifts twice a week may make fatigue-related errors. [C Paddock: Chronic Sleep Loss Not Easy To Recoup, Impairs Performance. Medical News Today, January 14, 2010.]
168
Dental Abstracts
the data among various interested parties. Such a reporting and classifying approach would improve the lot of wounded service members, who are often treated at multiple institutions and by various surgeons within the military healthcare system.
Lew TA, Walker JA, Wenke JC, et al: Characterization of craniomaxillofacial battle injuries sustained by United States service members in the current conflicts of Iraq and Afghanistan. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 68:3-7, 2010 Reprints available from C Hale, Army Inst of Surgical Research, 3851 Rodger Brooke Dr, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234; e-mail: robert. [email protected]
EXTRACTS PAYING FOR CHRONIC SLEEP LOSS There is no quick fix for chronic sleep loss according to a study in Science Translational Medicine. Researchers led by Dr Daniel Cohen from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston studied short-term and long-term sleep loss combined with the body’s natural circadian rhythm. Not only is sleep loss hard to recoup, but it severely impairs later performance, especially at night when performance is naturally low. After one long night of sleep, performance is normal for about 6 hours and circadian rhythm hides the effects of sleep deprivation for the rest of the day, but ‘‘the lingering effect of chronic sleep loss causes performance to deteriorate dramatically’’ thereafter. Persons with chronic sleep loss who try to work late into the night show reaction times 10 times slower than earlier in the day. Reaction times reflect the natural 24-hour circadian rhythm: slowest in late night/early morning hours and relatively normal even with substantial sleep loss in late afternoon/early evening. Researchers found that trying to stay awake during circadian night ‘‘reveals the cumulative detrimental effects of chronic sleep loss on performance,’’ with potentially adverse health and safety consequences. Dr Elizabeth Klerman, senior author in the Division of Sleep Medicine at BWH, warns, ‘‘This may lead to a dangerous situation in which individuals do not realize the extent of their sleep deprivation and their vulnerability to sudden sleepiness.’’ Co-author D Charles Czeisler, head of the BWH Division of Sleep Medicine, believes the findings show why resident physicians working 30-hour shifts twice a week may make fatigue-related errors. [C Paddock: Chronic Sleep Loss Not Easy To Recoup, Impairs Performance. Medical News Today, January 14, 2010.]
168
Dental Abstracts