SLEEP WALKING INCREASING NUMBER OF AMERICANS DOING TOO MUCH ON TOO LITTLE.

Byline: Stories by Barbara De Witt and Suzanne Sproul Staff Writers

America was a sleepy nation 15 years ago when Jack Brunk began his career as a sleep specialist. Today, even more people are spending their days tired, says the co-founder of SDI Future Health Inc. in Westlake Village.

``The problem is that we're a 24-hour society that needs a 30-hour clock to get everything done,'' says Brunk, who has treated more than 30,000 sleep-disorder patients during the course of his career. And he says there's no relief in sight because we work and play too hard and end up buying groceries at midnight and working on our computers into the wee hours of the morning when there's less Internet traffic.

The National Sleep Foundation released a study last March about adult dozing patterns. According to the report, only 33 percent of adults get the recommended eight hours of sleep a night during the work week and one-third of the 1,154 adults surveyed said they get fewer than 6.5 hours of sleep per night. In the past 100 years, Americans have lost two hours of sleep a day.

Dr. Michael Stevenson, clinical director of the North Valley Sleep Disorders Center in Mission Hills, says that until the 1920s, people were getting 10 to 12 hours of sleep, but that lifestyle changed with the advent of electricity.

``Light was brighter than the old gas lamps and it actually became an inhibitor of sleep that also caused insomnia. But the real distractions to our sleep were the radio and then TV and now the Internet,'' says Stevenson.

When the United States was primarily an agricultural society, farmers went to bed early and got up early, maintaining adequate sleep levels.

Now people are so busy going to work, taking the kids to soccer, piano lessons and the orthodontist, and then rushing home to cook, clean and attend extracurricular meetings, that to get it all done, they go to bed later and later and still start the next day early.

``If you've got a busy schedule, sleep is the easiest thing to eliminate, and cutting out sleep has become so common we often don't think about the risks such as colds or accidents,'' says Kathy Cavander, coordinator of the Sleep Disorders Center at Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Glendale.

Brunk agrees, adding that sleep needs to be a higher priority. ``If you know you've got to get up at 6 a.m., then you can't go to bed at midnight and expect to do well at work the next day. Instead, go to bed when you're tired, which may be 9 or 10 p.m.,'' he says, adding that whatever schedule you have, continue it on the weekends so your body won't get confused.

The Westlake Village sleep specialist also has observed that Americans are getting sleepier because they're eating too much, which often contributes to obstructive sleep apnea, as well as heart attacks and strokes. Stevenson concurs.

A study published in the most recent issue of the journal Science suggests that the timing of meals can also affect sleep patterns, and that changing mealtimes can help our bodies adjust to an altered work or lifestyle schedule, another leading cause of sleep deprivation.

Although many people will say they can get by with only six hours of sleep each night, the artificial altering of the body's internal time clock usually catches up at some point. People get tired, cranky and sometimes a bit sloppy on the job. The National Sleep Foundation study found that 43 percent of the respondents said they are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with their daily activities a few days per month or more; and, one out of five (20 percent) experience this level of daytime sleepiness at least a few days per week or more.

Experts know the sleepiness referred to in the study is more than just an annoyance. According to Cavander, ``People can become so exhausted from lack of sleep that they can't fight off 'microsleeps,' the industry word for falling asleep for a few moments, which can be fatal if you're at the wheel of a car or working with machinery.''

Yet more and more companies have turned to nontraditional work hours, and the result likely be more tired people. According to Stevenson, ``People who work nights have more sleep difficulties as they never really sleep as well (as daytime workers) due to light and noise they have no control over, such as lawn mowers, telephones and children at play.''

However, Dr. Dennis Nicholson, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, believes shift work involving odd hours wouldn't be a problem if workers simply followed the same work/sleep routine each day. In reality, though, that is very difficult, if not impossible. When individuals have days off, their schedules many times revert back to a 9-to-5 schedule as lifestyle and family issues prevail. A person's circadian rhythm involves a body's physiological makeup and the release of normal hormones during a day, based more on a 25-hour day than the normally acknowledged 24-hour one.

``When a person gets two days off from work, most people are then thrown back into a daytime sequence. The body then expects to feel a certain way at a specific time but doesn't,'' says Nicholson. The body releases normal hormones that tell it to sleep. ``If you pardon a pun, it's like night and day,'' he says with a laugh.

Working at 3 a.m. is physically different than working at 3 p.m. When individuals work at nontraditional hours, their bodies find themselves in time warps. Using bright light at a work site does help workers adapt to a point. Napping, too, helps with what Nicholson calls ``sleep-debt'' reduction, but it's not the cure-all some think.

``A short nap can make a difference, but the problem with those is that it usually takes the brain about 30 minutes to wake up and get its bearings,'' he says.

As nontraditional shift work continues, Nicholson says more research and attention should be directed at sleep patterns. Shift workers, especially those older than 50, are suffering the consequences of being tired. Work rotation issues, time off, bright light environments and some nap strategy, in some situations, will help, Nicholson says.

It may be in vain, but some researchers think we should look to Europe for lessons in sleep deprivation.

According to Brunk, ``There are fewer sleepy people in Europe because there's less stress. Businesses are closed the whole month of August, everybody takes lunch and nap breaks - yet they still produce quality work.''

Compared to Europeans, Americans are a run-run-run society, Brunk says, but there's nothing wrong with making time for sleep. ``It's nature's way of treating the body's immune system, to keep us functioning at our best,'' he explains.

Up at all hours

America is no longer primarily a 9-to-5 nation. In fact, more people are becoming night owls as industries adopt nontraditional work hours. More than 20 million people work odd hours.

Certain professions, such as nursing and law enforcement, always have held graveyard shifts. But they are being joined by many others, including those who supervise 24-hour fitness facilities and those who sell commodities. The dominoes are falling. With more people working odd hours, there now is a whole service industry set up to accommodate them - 24-hour restaurants, drug stores and dry cleaners. It seems there's no turning back the clock.

``It no longer is unusual to work nontraditional hours and it's more than just the retail industry. I don't see anyone changing their minds about working those hours, either,'' said Ed Coburn, spokesman for Circadian Technologies Inc., a consulting business based in Cambridge, Mass., that helps companies deal with safety, performance and health issues, related to working unusual hours. Individuals can call their local bank at 3 a.m. to arrange a home equity loan. Mail-order catalog companies personnel are available to consumers all the time. And so on. Modern workers need to go beyond simply factoring coast-to-coast time zones into their work plans. Increased globalization of business and the natural, unavoidable pressures of competition are ever-present.

``The economic forces at work here are simply too powerful,'' Coburn said. ``This isn't a sinister issue but one that does need examination.''

Automation can help fill the void in some industries, but the need for human workers in others will continue, whatever the hour, he said.

``Working nontraditional hours is fundamentally different, both physiologically and psychologically. That needs to be recognized and addressed,'' he said. ``It is not a case of day work done in the dark.''

Some businesses, however, need to stay open 24 hours a day, regardless of those studies on sleep deprivation.

Such is the case at busy Burbank Airport, where employees work in three shifts to accommodate the public.

According to airport spokesman Victor Gill, ``Although we don't have commercial planes landing 24 hours a day, we still need to have nighttime maintenance and janitorial service, as well as the FAA air traffic control tower staff and law enforcement function. And there's always something to do, like repaving that has to be done at night so it won't interfere with daytime operations.''

A former graveyard shift (late night to the following morning) employee at KFWB radio station, himself, Gill said 24-hour service is becoming more of a way of life, and the most obvious signs are the availability of food and grocery services - and also the abundance of Kinko's all-night service centers for printing resumes, college reports and wedding invitations.

Customer demand is also the reason why Home Depot began establishing 24-hour centers throughout the nation about two years ago, according to company spokeswoman Carol Schumacher, who added that the decision is made by individual stores.

Schumacher explained that the company has responded because customers, both do-it-yourselfers and professionals, want the option of being able to shop round-the-clock. ``We want to be there to serve our customers whenever they need us,'' Schumacher said.

In the San Fernando Valley, where there are several Home Depots, only the Van Nuys store opted for the 24-hour service, and according to assistant manager Sherry Barrera, ``We're busy ... so the longer hours are paying off.''

Lullaby tips for nappers

Nodding off can help give a body an extra boost of energy. For some people, though, napping isn't as easy as it might sound.

The human body is programmed to sleep at night and be awake and active during the day. Night work and other factors can throw the entire process out of whack. Naps can help regulate the situation, according to Circadian Technologies Inc.

The following is some advice for catching some ZZZZZs:

When you're at home, follow the same daily routine.

Sleep in a darkened room.

Avoid caffeine, exercise and heavy food for several hours before you plan to sleep.

Though individual needs differ, in general, the best time to nap is during the afternoon between 1 and 5 p.m.

Sleep experts agree that naps should either be relatively short (20 to 30 minutes) or very long (90 minutes). The object is to minimize sleep inertia, that temporary grogginess you feel when you wake up from a deep sleep.

< For more information about sleep disorders, write to the American Sleep Disorders Association, 1610 14th St. NW, Suite 300, Rochester, MN 55901. For information on insomnia, write to the National Sleep Foundation, 1367 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 200, Washington, D.C. 20036.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) out of sync 

We're a nation of night owls, and it's costing us more than just a good night's sleep

Sarah Lewis/Special to the Daily News

(2) The National Sleep Foundation reports only 33 percent of adults get the recommended eight hours of sleep a night during the week. This special mask helps open airways for a more comfortable and beneficial rest.

(3) Dr. Michael Stevenson, clinical director of the North Valley Sleep Disorders Center, uses sensors to measure brain waves and muscle tone during sleep.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(4) no caption (person sleeping)

Box: (1) Up at all hours (see text)

(2) Lullaby tips for nappers (see text)