Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | M | Managed Healthcare Executive

Sleepless nights cost billions in care and productivity: with a variety of treatments available, insomnia offers health plans opportunity to manage treatment for optimal outcomes.

Article Excerpt
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

THE CONTINUAL INABILITY to fall asleep or stay asleep is keeping approximately one-third of the nation up at night. In 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services reported more than 64 million people are affected by short-term or long-term insomnia.

Anna Silberman, vice president of preventive health services for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield in Pittsburgh, believes sleep should be routinely recognized as a vital sign.

"Sleep is necessary for overall good health," she says. "We need to understand that there is a definite link between sleep and chronic conditions, such as diabetes and depression."

The disorder is divided into the categories of transient, intermittent or chronic. Insomnia under the first two categories is typically related to stress or environment changes. Symptoms might be alleviated by modifying sleep habits or with use of over-the-counter options, such as antihistamines, for short periods, according to American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Chronic insomnia, which often impairs daytime functioning, calls for treatment by a physician and pharmacist, and offers...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!