Celebrate World Sleep Day® On March 17 To Advance Sleep Health Worldwide

ROCHESTER, Minn., March 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- World Sleep Society invites you to join participants from over 72 countries around the world in a global call to action about the importance of sleep. Friday, March 17, 2017 is the 10^th annual World Sleep Day^®. Created and hosted by World Sleep Society, World Sleep Day is an internationally recognized awareness event bringing researchers, health professionals and patients together for one important common cause: Sleep.

In 2017, the slogan is, Sleep Soundly, Nurture Life. This focus is purposefully broad in meaning, surrounding the message that quality of life with a sleep disorder can be improved. Though most sleep disorders are preventable or treatable, less than one-third of sufferers seek professional help. The three elements of good quality sleep are duration (the length of sleep), continuity (sleeping without fragmentation) and depth (meaning sleep is deep enough to be restorative.

In honor of the 10^th Annual World Sleep Day, World Sleep Society has partnered with Westin Hotels & Resorts, a modern leader in wellness and hospitality. Together, the brands are encouraging travelers around the world to prioritize and promote a good night's sleep by sharing their #SleepStrong moments on social media. For everyone who uses the #SleepStrong hashtag to showcase their "best rest" on Instagram and Twitter, Westin will pledge to support the World Sleep Society. "Because wellness is in our DNA, we have seen travel and wellness trends evolve over the past two decades," said Brian Povinelli, SVP & Global Brand Leader, Westin Hotels & Resorts. "Today's over-scheduled and always-on culture has made it more important than ever for organizations like World Sleep Society to champion sleep health and raise awareness for its importance," he continued. "Westin is honored to partner with this esteemed non-profit; and we will continue to innovate, enhancing the sleep experience for our guests before, during and after their stay with us."

Arianna Huffington of Thrive Global (author of The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time) states, "Science has proven that sleep is the ultimate performance enhancer. So it's clear that if we're going to truly thrive, we must begin with sleep."

Delegates from around the world have already planned an awareness event. Activities are added to worldsleepday.org/activities as they are submitted. Social media updates are scheduled to share the global events taking place on March 17 under the hashtag #WorldSleepDay.

CALL TO ACTION
If you are a patient living with a sleep disorder, World Sleep Society has developed ten recommendations on how to obtain restorative sleep at www.worldsleepday.org/toolkit/resources.   

To participate in World Sleep Day, consider:

• Organizing an event to create excitement and generate interest in World Sleep Day.
• Circulating the official press release with sleep experts and local media.
• Distributing sleep patient literature such as booklets, leaflets and newsletters.
• Spreading the word on social media about #WorldSleepDay

More information can be viewed on worldsleepday.org/get-involved/plan.

SLEEP'S IMPORTANT IMPACT
Sleep is a basic human need—a crucial component of survival, much like breathing, eating a healthy diet or getting enough exercise. World Sleep Day is designed to raise awareness of sleep as a human privilege that is often compromised by the habits of modern life. Sleep impacts nearly every aspect of mental and physical health. Research suggests:

• Sound sleep is one of the three pillars of good health along with a balanced diet and regular exercise.
• There are close to 100 disorders of sleep, but most are modifiable and manageable with the help of sleep specialists.
• Studies have shown that people with insomnia suffer from more symptoms of anxiety and depression than people without insomnia.
• Effects of insufficient sleep favoring outcomes such as increased appetite and enhanced sensitivity to food stimuli.¹
• Next day effects of poor quality sleep include a negative impact on our attention span, memory recall and learning.²
• Studies suggest that sleep quality rather than quantity has a greater impact on quality of life and daytime functioning.³
• Short sleep duration appears independently associated with weight gain, particularly in young age groups.⁴
• Longer term effects are being studied, but poor quality sleep or sleep deprivation has been associated with significant health problems, such as obesity, diabetes, weakened immune systems and even some cancers.^5,6,7

More statistics on sleep are available on worldsleepday.org.

CONTACTS
Allan O'Bryan, Executive Director: [email protected]
Dr. Liborio Parrino, Committee Chair: [email protected]

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sponsors of World Sleep Day 2017 include Westin Hotels & Resorts, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Dormeo and Barilla.

About World Sleep Society
World Sleep Day is organized by World Sleep Society, founded by World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) and World Sleep Federation (WSF), an international association whose mission is to advance sleep health worldwide. World Sleep Society and the International RLS Study Group have collaborated to launch a sleep directory aiming to globally connect healthcare professionals and patients in their search for sleep experts at sleepdirectory.org. A job board has also been created for sleep medicine professionals on www.worldsleepsociety.org. Follow the excitement on Twitter @_WorldSleep and facebook.com/WASMF.

About Westin Hotels & Resorts
Westin Hotels & Resorts, a leader in wellness and hospitality for more than a decade, empowers guests and associates to embrace well-being and be their best selves through the brand's six pillars of Well-Being: Sleep Well, Eat Well, Move Well, Feel Well, Work Well, and Play Well.  At more than 200 hotels and resorts in nearly 40 countries and territories, guests can experience offerings that include the iconic Heavenly Bed, RunWESTIN and Westin Gear Lending with New Balance, delicious and nutritious SuperFoodsRx™ and more: www.westin.com, @westin on Twitter, Instagram and facebook.com/Westin.

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: www.ferring.com.

About Dormeo
Dormeo uses the latest technologies to maximize the comfort experience and create the best sleep and living environment. We believe every home should be a place you can return to after a long day and unwind or a place where you can feel Zen-like throughout the day. Therefore, we work hard to bring healthy sleeping and living to every home, turning it into haven of peace and tranquility. We know that home is where the heart is: www.dormeo-international.com.

About Barilla
Barilla, originally established in 1877 as a bread and pasta shop in Parma, Italy, ranks as one of today's top Italian food groups. Barilla leads in the world pasta business, the pasta sauces business in continental Europe, the bakery products business in Italy and the crispbread business in Scandinavia. Barilla owns 28 production sites (14 in Italy and 14 in the rest of the world) and exports to more than 100 countries: www.barillagroup.com.

References

1. Vanitallie TB. Sleep and energy balance: Interactive homeostatic systems. Metabolism 2006 Oct;55(10 Suppl 2):S30-5.
2. Ohayon MM et al. Correlates of global sleep satisfaction in the psychiatric diagnosis catagories. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2002; 56: 239-240
3. Kandel ER, Schwartz JH, Jessell TM. Principles of neural science. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. 2000.
4. Patel SR, Hu FB. Short sleep duration and weight gain: a systematic review. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2008 Mar;16(3):643−53.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Gumustekin K, Seven B, Karabulut N et al. Effects of sleep deprivation, nicotine and selenium on wound healing in rats. Neurosci 2004; 114: 1433-1442.

World Sleep Society
+1.507.316.0084
http://worldsleepday.org/

SOURCE World Sleep Society