Archived Columns
National Institutes of Health
October 2, 2000
The recent completion of the human genome project (a complete set of specifications for creating human beings) received enormous publicity. Even so, I have not yet encountered a sleep disorders patient who is aware that most of the research that describes all of our genes was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which in turn is supported by your tax dollars.
NIH is a federal agency which has the very important responsibility for supporting research to improve the health of American citizens including sleep research. The NIH has an overall Director who reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Secretary, currently Donna Shalala, is a member of the Cabinet and reports directly to the President of the United States.
Within the NIH are 25 independent categorical institutes and centers ranging from the National Institutes of Mental Health to the National Institutes on Nursing Research. Although they conduct a very small amount of research in house, mostly the various institutes support research by awarding grants to researchers in universities and medical centers. All grant proposals are submitted to the NIH by individual investigators. These proposals are competitively reviewed and the best and most promising are funded. However, the grant funds are never given directly to the individual investigator, but rather to the university or medical center where the research is carried out.
The National Cancer Institute and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) are the largest. Within the latter is a relatively small administrative entity, the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR). This entity was created by the Congress of the United States in response to a recommendation submitted in 1993 by the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research of which I was the chairman. The Congressional legislation that created NCSDR included an outline of its mission- to foster research on sleep, sleep deprivation, and sleep disorders. At the present time, the sleep research community is not unhappy with the amount of NCSDR supported research although it is quite small in comparison to other research areas.
The enabling legislation also mandated NCSDR to plan and carry out a vigorous national awareness campaign. This mandate was the intended solution to the pervasive lack of public and professional awareness about sleep, sleep deprivation, and sleep disorders which the National Commission identified as the single most serious problem in American society. Alas, for a variety of reasons, the National Sleep Center was not given a line item budget nor does it have its own line item budget even today. Consequently, the non-research resources to carry out a national awareness campaign have never been available and the level of public awareness about sleep remains essentially at the same low level as in 1993.
I spent a number of post-Commission years lobbying Congress to provide line item funding for the National Sleep Center without success. Eventually, it became clear that if I wanted to make a difference in enhancing national awareness about sleep and sleep disorders, I should try another approach. After some hesitation, I decided to write a book specifically for the general public. This decision was inspired in part by the example of another book which did make a difference in national awareness and attitude. The book that inspired me was Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and the issue was the environment.
At any rate, I decided to write a book for the general public whose content would include all the crucial information about sleep that everyone should know. The challenge was daunting, and I found that I was too busy to do it all by myself. I thus accepted an offer of assistance that included an agent, a writer, and a packager in return for my share of any future royalties. It must be very clear that I will receive no financial returns from sales of The Promise of Sleep so discussing it should not be viewed as self serving.
My goal was to write an absolutely authoritative book that, at the same time, people would be eager to read (like Harry Potter). Rachel Carson must have faced the same challenge- how to make people want to learn about something that is not thought to be important to learn about. If I had succeeded, The Promise of Sleep would finally have been at least a partial solution to the continuing problem of the pervasive lack of public awareness about sleep. As I indicated in a previous commentary (How To Read The Promise Of Sleep, September 11, 2000) the sales so far have fallen far short of this goal and future sales are highly unlikely to add much more. Nonetheless, The Promise of Sleep is very easy to read and it does contain the knowledge about sleep, sleep deprivation, and sleep disorders that should, nay, must be possessed by everyone. For this reason, I hope that it will continue to reach at least a few additional citizens as time passes.
In spite of the somber tone of the above, I am happy to inform website visitors that an exciting new initiative has arrived on the public awareness scene. For several years, the National Sleep Foundation has advocated involving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the crusade to educate America about sleep deprivation and sleep disorders. As of this writing, the CDC has accepted the challenge. I will keep you informed in these commentaries.
Stay Tuned.
<< Back
| Home | Privacy & Security | Search | Sitemap | Contact | Help |
| Copyright © 2002 SleepQuest. All rights reserved. |  |