We should be sleeping on the problems of insomnia

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I've just come back from a two-week filming trip across America, from California on the West Coast all the way across, via Ohio, to New York on the East. Needless to say, my body clock is completely up the spout and despite going to bed reasonably early I'm still lying wide awake at 4am. Most irritating. Add to that the fact that I don't sleep well in hotel rooms, with their strange noises, odd-shaped pillows and unworkable air conditioning, and you won't be surprised to hear that the symptoms of sleep deprivation are really beginning to show. I have certainly developed a lot more sympathy for insomniacs.

While I hope my night-time wakefulness is only temporary, chronic lack of sleep can have serious implications for our health. Recently published results show that 51 per cent of UK adults struggle to get to or remain asleep. Women seem to suffer far more than men, with 75 per cent reporting problems, compared with 25 per cent of men.

It is highly likely that persistently poor sleep increases the risk of developing new illnesses such as diabetes, and there are clear links to depression. In a study of 10,000 people, those with insomnia were five times as likely to develop depression as those without.

Sleep-deprived men and women report lower libidos and less interest in sex, and sleep even plays a role in weight regulation. Lack of sleep seems to be related to an increase in hunger and appetite, and possibly obesity. People who sleep less than six hours a day are almost 30 per cent more likely to become obese than those who sleep more.

This may be because sleep deprivation stimulates cravings for high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods, and studies are under way to see whether adequate sleep should be a standard part of weight loss programmes.

It is sobering to think that sleep deprivation was a factor in some of the biggest disasters in recent history, including the nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl and the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

But even on a smaller scale, drowsiness can slow reaction times to those of a drunk driver, and is responsible for a significant number of road deaths, particularly in the under-25s.

It's a strange fact of our modern lives that functioning on less sleep has become a kind of badge of honour and something to aspire to. Yet research has shown that if you think you're doing fine on less sleep, you're almost certainly wrong. For people who work in professions where it is important to be able to judge their level of functioning, this can be a big problem and should cause us to question the hours worked by junior doctors.

This is clearly an issue we need to take more seriously. In the US they deal with these problems better: nearly every gadget or gift shop I went into sold sleep aid devices, the most popular being noise generators that mask external sounds and induce sleep. I shall certainly be investing in one for my next trip.

Follow me on Twitter @DoctorChristian