Sleep as a vital sign?
Commenting on the findings, Harly Greenberg, MD, medical director at the Northwell Health Sleep Disorders Center, New York City, called the study “informative.”
However, because the findings were associations, “the study does not necessarily indicate that hypersomnolence itself is causal for these conditions. Rather excessive sleepiness may be a marker of sleep disorders that can cause sleepiness as well as contribute to the risk of these medical conditions,” said Dr. Greenberg, who was not involved with the research.
“The takeaway point from this study is that excessive sleepiness should not be ignored. Not only does it impair quality of life, daytime function, and vigilance and increase risk of sleepiness-related accidents, it may also be a marker for serious sleep disorders that can increase risk for medical disorders,” he said.
Also commenting on the study, Nathaniel Watson, MD, professor of neurology at the University of Washington (UW) and director of the UW Medicine Sleep Clinic, said it is “not surprising” that excessive daytime sleepiness might contribute to diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases.
“Sleep is something we spend a third of our lives doing. It impacts nearly every aspect of human physiology and we have a lot of basic science and epidemiologic research that shows when sleep is either inadequate or of poor quality or not timed correctly it can be associated with some of these untoward health outcomes,” said Watson, who is a past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
“This research just provides further evidence in support of the importance of sleep for overall health and well-being,” he added.
Asking patients about sleepiness, sleep, or sleep quality should be a “vital sign just like temperature, blood pressure, weight, and these other measures,” Dr. Watson said.
The study was supported by the Arrillaga Foundation. Drs. Ohayon, Greenberg, and Watson have reported no relevant financial relationships.
This article first appeared on Medscape.com.