News
Sleep Disturbance Among Veterans
Michael Smith reports that Insomnia appears to be a problem in our Iraq war veterans. In a presentation at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting, Dr Germain shared that “both subjective reports of sleep disturbances and objective measurement in a sleep lab show a pattern that more closely resembles people with chronic insomnia”.
Dr Germain conducted a comparative study of 11 veterans and 11 volunteers – none of which were taking any medications. She found that the veterans “had significantly worse sleep quality and sleep efficiency, took longer to go to sleep, woke up more often after they fell asleep, and were awake longer when they did.”
These findings were compared with a study consisting of 14 good sleepers and 14 people who suffer from chronic insomnia. Dr Germain stated that she found that there was no “significant differences between the veterans and the insomniacs … except in disruptive nocturnal behaviors”.
