Treating Insomnia Is Far Less Costly Than Ignoring It

People who are suffering with insomnia are advised to get treatment early for their sleep disorder to feel better faster. According to the study published in the March 1st issue of journal SLEEP, treating insomnia is much easier and less costly than failing to treat it.

The study was conducted by Ronald J. Ozminkowski, PhD, director of health and productivity research at Thomson Medstat in Ann Arbor, Mich., and James K. Walsh, PhD, director of the Sleep Medicine and Research Center in Chesterfield, Mo.

According to the research, they discovered that compared to other disorders, insomnia is inexpensive to treat. The costly medications also cost less than $200 per year for the treatment.

The researchers found that if insomnia is untreated, it can lead to $924 to $1,143 medical expenditure depending on the patient’s age, for just the six months before treatment began.

Insomnia leads to a significant increase in health care expenditures and absenteeism from work. About 10 percent of the adults in the U.S. (i.e., about 25 to 30 million people) have chronic insomnia, so the cost of failure to treat is huge for the U.S. population.

The studies results that treating insomnia costs far less than ignoring it. If insomnia is untreated, it affects the person’s health, job performance and quality of life.

25 to 30 million Americans approximately are suffering from chronic insomnia, so this issue has huge implications for employers, government insurance programs, health plans and individuals.

Insomnia is a common complaint caused by one or more conditions. The symptoms of insomnia are trouble falling asleep, having unrefreshed sleep, waking up early in the morning than usual time and waking up in the night and unable to go back to sleep.

Insomnia can cause problems during daytime such as depression, excessive sleepiness, irritability and tiredness. Due to daytime problems, there will be difficulty with memory, focus, concentration, motor accidents and impaired social interaction.

About 30 percent of adults suffer from some form of insomnia. Elderly people and women suffer commonly from insomnia. Some medical conditions and medications also cause insomnia.

If you think that you have insomnia or any other sleep disorder, you discuss your problem with your physician and take the necessary treatment.

For more details visit:

http://www.journalsleep.org/

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=64259