Sleep Deprivation Creating 'Nation of Walking Zombies'

Nov. 8, 2006 — -- Would it scare you to learn that the surgeon who was about to carve into your body had just had a few drinks?

How about if the doc just needed a nap?

Same difference, according to a host of new studies.

We've heard enough about the dire consequences of sleep deprivation in recent weeks to keep us awake at night, but a few institutions are trying to do something about it.

They are mostly in the medical field, where long hours without a break are common, and the consequences of exhaustion can be fatal. But there may be something in the findings for the rest of us as well.

Now, if we can just get over that cultural hurdle that brands every napper as lazy and poorly motivated, maybe we can make some progress with an ailment that afflicts most Americans. According to volumes of research, few of us get enough sleep.

The latest research is out of Stanford University, where scientists have found that staying awake for 24 hours "has the same effects as being legally drunk," said Steven Howard, associate professor of anesthesia and an expert on sleep deprivation and fatigue.

Howard and his colleagues studied 24 nurses and 25 doctors who worked the 12-hour graveyard shift at Stanford Hospital. Half were given a 40-minute nap break at 3 a.m., in the middle of their shift, and the other half worked straight through.

At the end of the shift, the participants took a number of tests, including a simulated 40-minute drive.

It's fortunate that the car was simulated, because those who had not taken a nap crashed "over and over again," according to the researchers. The nappers performed much better.

They also did much better on a written memory test and a simulated insertion of an intravenous tube.

In addition, they took a test developed by NASA that measured different mood states ranging from confusion and fatigue to anger and vigor. Again, the nappers came out on top, scoring fewer performance lapses, less fatigue, and more vigor.

But here's what makes the Stanford research different from others. They are actually implementing their findings in a program at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.