Sleep epidemiology is an emerging branch of the discipline of epidemiology. [1] It is a growing field of scientific enquiry, with the first documented modern epidemiological survey being conducted in 1979. [2]
There is extensive interest in sleep research in the UK, Europe and worldwide. In the UK and US this manifests itself in research centres which often have sleep laboratories where the sleep patterns and conditions of individuals can be observed, as well as the effect of various treatments. Similarly assessment and treatment of sleep disorders is evident in health care and clinical centres, sometimes in partnership with universities.[ citation needed ]
There is growing recognition of the importance of sleep on our health and well-being. [3] The field of research into sleep has been mostly led by the discipline of psychology, focussing for example on rapid eye movement sleep, dreaming and memory consolidation studies. Clinical and medical professionals have taken less interest in the causes and consequences of good and poor sleep. It is often used as a sign of existing disease, such as depression. More recently Pulmonology has developed methods for identifying sleep-disordered breathing, such as obstructive sleep apnea.[ citation needed ]
As a consequence the field of sleep medicine has become an increasingly popular sub-specialty of medicine. In order to provide evidence for this medical specialty, sleep epidemiology provides data on the incidence and prevalence of good and poor sleep. This then allows the collection of evidence for the causes and consequences of the quantity and quality of sleep in the population. Studies provide the direction for research into interventions on sleep to improve health and well-being. The US dominates in this field. Sleep epidemiology has provided evidence for the association between sleep and various diseases, particularly metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, such as diabetes [4] and cardiovascular disease. [5] It is also related to known risk factors for disease such as obesity. [6]
Sleep epidemiology draws upon fields such as: sleep medicine, statistics, psychology, epidemiology, economics, biology, and mathematics [ citation needed ]
A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of an individual's sleep patterns. Some sleep disorders are severe enough to interfere with normal physical, mental, social and emotional functioning. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for diagnosing sleep disorders.
Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of at least three of the following five medical conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides, and low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it negatively affects health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's weight divided by the square of the person's height—is over 30 kg/m2; the range 25–30 kg/m2 is defined as overweight. Some East Asian countries use lower values to calculate obesity. Obesity is a major cause of disability and is correlated with various diseases and conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, and unexplained weight loss. Symptoms may also include increased hunger, feeling tired, and sores (wounds) that do not heal. Often symptoms come on slowly. Long-term complications from high blood sugar include heart disease, strokes, diabetic retinopathy which can result in blindness, kidney failure, and poor blood flow in the limbs which may lead to amputations. The sudden onset of hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state may occur; however, ketoacidosis is uncommon.
Binge eating disorder (BED) is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems, but without the compensatory behaviors common to bulimia nervosa, OSFED, or the binge-purge subtype of anorexia nervosa.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases, stroke, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, abnormal heart rhythms, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.
Diseases of affluence, previously called diseases of rich people, is a term sometimes given to selected diseases and other health conditions which are commonly thought to be a result of increasing wealth in a society. Also referred to as the "Western disease" paradigm, these diseases are in contrast to so-called "diseases of poverty", which largely result from and contribute to human impoverishment. These diseases of affluence have vastly increased in prevalence since the end of World War II.
Bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder and is characterized by recurrent episodes of complete or partial obstruction of the upper airway leading to reduced or absent breathing during sleep. These episodes are termed "apneas" with complete or near-complete cessation of breathing, or "hypopneas" when the reduction in breathing is partial. In either case, a fall in blood oxygen saturation, a disruption in sleep, or both, may result. A high frequency of apneas or hypopneas during sleep may interfere with the quality of sleep, which – in combination with disturbances in blood oxygenation – is thought to contribute to negative consequences to health and quality of life. The terms obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) or obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) may be used to refer to OSA when it is associated with symptoms during the daytime.
A chronic condition is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term chronic is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include diabetes, functional gastrointestinal disorder, eczema, arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, autoimmune diseases, genetic disorders and some viral diseases such as hepatitis C and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. An illness which is lifelong because it ends in death is a terminal illness. It is possible and not unexpected for an illness to change in definition from terminal to chronic. Diabetes and HIV for example were once terminal yet are now considered chronic due to the availability of insulin for diabetics and daily drug treatment for individuals with HIV which allow these individuals to live while managing symptoms.
Metabolic imprinting refers to the long-term physiological and metabolic effects that an offspring's prenatal and postnatal environments have on them. Perinatal nutrition has been identified as a significant factor in determining an offspring's likelihood of it being predisposed to developing cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes amongst other conditions.
The Bradford Hill criteria, otherwise known as Hill's criteria for causation, are a group of nine principles that can be useful in establishing epidemiologic evidence of a causal relationship between a presumed cause and an observed effect and have been widely used in public health research. They were established in 1965 by the English epidemiologist Sir Austin Bradford Hill.
A number of lifestyle factors are known to be important to the development of type 2 diabetes including: obesity, physical activity, diet, stress, and urbanization. Excess body fat underlies 64% of cases of diabetes in men and 77% of cases in women. A number of dietary factors such as sugar sweetened drinks and the type of fat in the diet appear to play a role.
Globally, an estimated 537 million adults are living with diabetes, according to the latest 2019 data from the International Diabetes Federation. Diabetes is the 9th leading cause of mortality globally in 2020, attributing to over 2 million deaths annually due to diabetes directly and kidney disease due to diabetes. The primary causes of type 2 diabetes is diet and physical activity, which can contribute to increased BMI, poor nutrition, hypertension, alcohol use and smoking, while genetics is also a factor. Diabetes prevalence is increasing rapidly; previous 2019 estimates put the number at 463 million people living with diabetes, with the distributions being equal between both sexes icidence peaking around age 55 years old. The number is projected to 643 million by 2030, or 7079 individuals per 100,000, with all regions around the world continue to rise. Type 2 diabetes makes up about 85-90% of all cases. Increases in the overall diabetes prevalence rates largely reflect an increase in risk factors for type 2, notably greater longevity and being overweight or obese. The prevalence of African Americans with diabetes is estimated to triple by 2050, while the prevalence of whites is estimated to double. The overall prevalence increases with age, with the largest increase in people over 65 years of age. The prevalence of diabetes in America is estimated to increase to 48.3 million by 2050.
Diabetes mellitus, often known simply as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough insulin, or the cells of the body becoming unresponsive to the hormone's effects. Classic symptoms include thirst, polyuria, weight loss, and blurred vision. If left untreated, the disease can lead to various health complications, including disorders of the cardiovascular system, eye, kidney, and nerves. Untreated or poorly treated diabetes accounts for approximately 1.5 million deaths every year.
Frank B. Hu is a Chinese American nutrition and diabetes researcher. He is Chair of the Department of Nutrition and the Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.
Metabolically healthy obesity or metabolically-healthy obesity (MHO) is a disputed medical condition characterized by obesity which does not produce metabolic complications.
Occupational cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are diseases of the heart or blood vessels caused by working conditions, making them a form of occupational illness. These diseases include coronary heart disease, stroke, cardiomyopathy, arrythmia, and heart valve or heart chamber problems. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. In the United States, cardiovascular diseases account for one out of four deaths. The 6th International Conference on Work Environment and Cardiovascular Diseases found that within the working age population about 10-20% of cardiovascular disease deaths can be attributed to work. Ten workplace stressors and risk factors were estimated to be associated with 120,000 U.S. deaths each year and account for 5-8% of health care costs.
The benefits of physical activity range widely. Most types of physical activity improve health and well-being.
Cuilin Zhang is a Chinese-American epidemiologist and physician-scientist researching the roles of genetic and environmental factors in the pathogenesis of gestational diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and obesity and health consequences of these complications. Zhang is a senior investigator and acting chief of the epidemiology branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.