Ferring Pharmaceuticals: Waking to go to the Toilet is the Leading Cause of a Poor Night's Sleep, say Experts on World Sleep Day

WEST DRAYTON, England, March 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

On World Sleep Day, sleep experts encourage people to understand the value of healthy and solid sleep. Interrupted sleep is associated with significant health problems, both physical and psychological, including obesity, diabetes, cancer, depression and anxiety.^{[i],[ii],[iii],[iv],[v],[vi]}

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/479500/World_Sleep_Day_Infographic.jpg )

The most common cause of sleep disturbance is nocturia - the need to go to the toilet more than once in the night.^[vii] It is a condition that affects 8.63 million people in the UK and isn't isolated to a particular demographic.^[viii] One in three adults over the age of 30, and two thirds of adults over the age of 65 experience nocturia.^[ix]

Dr Neil Stanley, a UK-based independent Sleep Expert says: "Good, undisturbed, sleep is vital for good physical, mental and emotional health and so conditions disturbing sleep, such as nocturia, need to be managed pro-actively."

The broken night's sleep caused by trips to the bathroom can have huge consequences for sufferers. Productivity, relationships and career success can be impacted.^[i] Lack of sleep can also affect mental functioning, making it much harder to concentrate, remember things and pick up new skills or facts.^[i] Nocturia has also been shown to result in an increase in morbidity and mortality, with studies showing that waking up two or more times a night to urinate increases a person's risk of mortality by up to 22%.^[x]

The chronic loss of sleep due to nocturia places a significant burden on the UK economy - the estimated annual societal cost due to loss of productivity is £4.32 billion.^[viii] Nocturia also has a major impact on the UK healthcare system, with approximately 10 million patient visits, 63,000 hospital admissions and 130,000 fractures happening yearly due to the condition.^[xi] The annual healthcare cost of managing nocturia and its consequences is £1.35 billion.^[xi]

There are several reasons why people are affected by nocturia, with a major cause being nocturnal polyuria - an overproduction of urine at night - contributing in up to 76-88% of cases.^{[xii],[ xiii],[ xiv]} It can also be caused by external factors such as excess fluids before bedtime, medications, alcohol, caffeine, or diuretic medications; in rare cases it could also be a symptom of something more serious such as diabetes, high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease.^[xii] If you are experiencing lack of sleep due to the need to urinate do speak to your doctor.

Mr Dudley Robinson, Consultant Urogynaecologist, Kings College Hospital agrees. "Nocturia, waking one or more times at night, is a common symptom which is often under recognised, poorly diagnosed and inappropriately managed. As well as having an important impact on quality of life it leads to daytime sleepiness and reduced productivity. Whilst the causes of nocturia may be multifactorial we know have an efficacious and safe therapy for those patients with nocturnal polyuria which is the cause of nocturia in over 75% of cases."

About Ferring Pharmaceuticals 

Headquartered in Switzerland, Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, specialty biopharmaceutical group active in global markets. The company identifies, develops and markets innovative products in the areas of reproductive health, urology, gastroenterology, endocrinology and orthopaedics. Ferring has its own operating subsidiaries in nearly 60 countries and markets its products in 110 countries. To learn more about Ferring or its products please visit http://www.ferring.com.

About Nocturia 

Nocturia is a complex condition characterised by the regular need to awaken once or more during a night to urinate (or void the bladder).^[xv] Although there are several reasons why people may be affected by nocturia, the night-time overproduction of urine - known as nocturnal polyuria - is a major contributor.^{[xiii],[ xiv]}  

About World Sleep Day  

World Sleep Day is an annual event intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep. It is organised by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society (founded by World Association of Sleep Medicine and the World Sleep Federation) and will take place on Friday 17^th March 2017.^[xvi]

References 

^[i] Orzel-Gryglewska, J. Consequences of Sleep Deprivation. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health 2010; 23(1): 95-114. doi:10.2478/v10001-010-0004-9.

^[ii] Taheri S, Lin L, Austin D et al. Short sleep duration is associated with elevated ghrelin, reduced leptin and increased body mass index. PLoS Med 2004; 1(3): e62.

^[iii] Gottlieb DJ, Punjabi NM, Newman AB et al. Association of sleep time with diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance. Arch Intern Med 2005; 165(8): 863-7.

^[iv] Meier-Ewert HK et al. Effect of Sleep Loss on C-Reactive Protein, an Inflammatory Marker of Cardiovascular Risk. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2004; 43(4). doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2003.07.050

^[v] Neckelmann D, Mykletun A, Dahl, AA. Chronic Insomnia as a Risk Factor for Developing Anxiety and Depression. Sleep 2007, 30(7): 873-880.

^[vi] Petrovsky N et al. Sleep Deprivation Disrupts Prepulse Inhibition and Induces Psychosis-Like Symptoms in Healthy Humans. The Journal of Neuroscience 2014; July, 34(27)-913409140.

^[vii] Benefield LE. Facilitating Aging in Place: Safe, Sound, and Secure, An Issue of Nursing Clinics. 2014

^[viii] Weidlich D et al. Eur J Health Econ 2016. Doi: 10.1007/s10198-016-0826

^[ix] Bosch JL, Weiss JP. The prevalence and causes of nocturia. J Urol 2010 Aug; 184(2): 440-6. doi:10.1016/j.juro.2010.04.011.

^[x] Fan Y et al. Int J Cardiology 2015; 195:120-122.

^[xi] Weidlich D et al. Value in Health 2016; 19: A130

^[xii] National Association for Continence website, Nocturia page. [Last Accessed March 2017] Available from: http://www.nafc.org/nocturia/  

^[xiii] Weiss JP et al. J Urol 2011;186:1358-13636.

^[xiv] Weiss JP et al. BJU Int 2013;111:700-716.

^[xv] Van Kerrebroeck P et al. Neurourol Urodyn 2002;21:179-183.

^[xvi] World Sleep Day website. Homepage. [Last accessed March 2017] Available at: http://www.worldsleepday.org  

NOQ/798/2017/UKa March 2017