Poor sleep can lead to many different health problems
One in three U.S. adults don’t get enough sleep, putting many at risk, says UCI Health sleep medicine expert
IN THE NEWS: About one in three adults in the United States reported not getting enough rest or sleep every day, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). UCI Health Sleep Medicine Services Medical Director Dr. KyoungBin Im spoke with Spectrum News about the potential health effects of chronic sleep loss and deprivation.
“Not getting enough sleep can be linked to high blood pressure or hypertension, diabetes, heart attack or stroke, mental health or psychological conditions like anxiety, depression or to some degree even dementia.”
Im says the growing number of sleep centers is improving the identification of sleep disorders, but they can still easily be missed, he says.
Im is a board-certified UCI Health psychiatrist who specializes in sleep medicine. His research and clinical interests include sleep disorders, including insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, parasomnias and circadian rhythms. He is also a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the UC Irvine School of Medicine where his research focuses on sleep, sleep disorders (especially sleep-related breathing disorders and movement disorders), psychotropic drugs effect on sleep and wakefulness, sleep disorders affecting cardiovascular diseases and neuromuscular diseases.
About UCI Health
UCI Health, one of California’s largest academic health systems, is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. The 1,461-bed system comprises its main campus UCI Health — Orange, its flagship hospital, the UCI Health — Irvine acute care hospital and medical campus, four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and a network of ambulatory care centers across the region. UCI Health — Orange provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to the only Orange County-based National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves 5.6 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).