Did you realize that March 3-9 is Sleep Awareness Week? You probably were too drowsy to realize it but now that I have brought it to your attention make sure you mark it on your iPhone calendar for next year. Sleep Awareness Week is proudly sponsored by more drug companies than I could possibly list here but you can see on their website here!
In lieu of sleep awareness week the Center for Disease Control, the CDC, released a study detailing the sleep habits (we paid for this study?) of Americans and came up with the following conclusions:
- 10% of Americans reported not getting enough sleep. (really)
- Sleep loss may lead to health problems (now that’s a revelation)
Luckily the medical profession has answers for the lowly masses who suffer in ignorance about this problem.
“It’s important to better understand how sleep impacts people’s overall health and the
need to take steps to improve the sufficiency of their sleep,” said Lela R. McKnight-Eily Ph.D. the study’s lead author and a behavioral scientist in CDC’s Division of Adult and
Community Health. “There are very few studies to assess and address sleep
inefficiencies; therefore, more needs to done to better understand the problem and to
develop effective sleep interventions.”
In other words Dr. McKnight-Eily has a government job and will continue to make work for herself by studying sleep while at the same time developing “effective sleep interventions”, which in layman’s terms means promoting sleeping pills sold by the pharmaceutical companies with the most powerful lobbyists in congress! Aren’t you glad I was able to cut through the loquacious language of the doctor.
Dr. McKnight-Eily goes on to say (words in parenthesis are mine):
People concerned about chronic sleep loss should consult a physician (bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical companies) for an assessment and possible treatment (prescription drugs), such as behavioral or medical intervention (prescription drugs). They can also try setting a regular sleep schedule and avoiding caffeine or other stimulants before bed (and take prescription drugs), she said.
So, in conclusion, if you are having trouble sleeping, take this opportunity during sleep awareness week to get some prescription drugs from your doctor (or doctors if you need extra drugs.)
To learn more about sleep disorders, good sleep, and good drugs visit the sleepfoundation.org
Coming soon on ‘do we really need a study to tell us this’: The CDC study on how a sedentary lifestyle may be bad for your child’s health (yes this is an actual study.)
Filed under: Funny | Tagged: center for disease control, dick cheney, drugs, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs, sleep deprivation, sleeping pills
