Common Louisiana jobs are causing sleep problems. This new center wants to help

Sleep is a basic human need and critical to both physical and mental health, yet almost half of Louisiana residents report not getting enough of it.

According to America’s Health Rankings, an annual report by the United Health Foundation, 39.8% of Louisiana residents reported sleeping fewer than seven hours in a 24-hour period, the minimum recommended amount for maintaining one’s physical health.

While a significant percentage of Americans struggle with sleep disorders, Louisiana’s percentage is far above the national average. Much of that can be attributed to the kind of jobs most prevalent in Louisiana, according to Dr. Phillip Conner, whose sleep disorder clinic opened its new Lafayette location this week.

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About 250,000 workers are currently employed in the energy sector, according to recent state estimates. 

Long, irregular hours spent working in the oil field, on offshore rigs or casino floors don’t lend themselves to developing healthy, consistent sleep patterns.

“The guys – and ladies — that work offshore, work in the industry, they have to constantly shift their circadian rhythms back and forth, and it’s very difficult for them to stay on a normal pattern,” Conner said. “And it has impacts in terms of sleep and long-term health.”

Conner’s clinic, the Sleep Disorder Center of Louisiana, has maintained a location in Lake Charles for 25 years. With local casinos and the oil and gas industry as major employers, southwest Louisiana’s shift workers are prone to bad or insufficient sleep. Looking at the local demographics in southcentral Louisiana, Conner and his team concluded the same would likely be true for this region.

“We saw the population footprint from here down to Morgan City, and we recognized that there’s an enormous health burden related to sleep related disorders,” Conner said.

Shift worker syndrome, as sleep disorder associated with irregular work hours is referred to clinically, isn’t the only cause of bad sleep prevalent in South Louisiana, however.

According to Conner, a vast majority of the center’s patients suffer from sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea, which can be caused by a variety of factors including exposure to pollution, smoking, and excess weight or drinking, is also a common health concern. The disorder, in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep, can have serious long-term health consequences such as high blood pressure and heart problems, diabetes and liver disease.

Insomnia, one of the most common sleep disorders, is prevalent in South Louisiana as well. While Conner said sleep apnea affects more of his male than female patients, the opposite is true for insomnia.

At the sleep center, staff diagnose and treat these common sleep disorders in various ways. Where necessary, a sleep study is performed to diagnose the condition. For that, patients spend the night in one of two rooms at the center set up for that purpose, each featuring a queen-size bed with a plush mattress and ample pillows and blankets.

Throughout the night the patient’s oxygen levels, heart rate, breathing patterns, muscular activity and other indicators are measured to form a diagnosis and design a treatment plan.

For now, Conner will be splitting his time between the Lake Charles and Lafayette centers, along with a monthly pop-up in DeRidder, where he serves local residents and service members from the nearby Fort Johnson, formerly Fort Polk, army base. Sleep disorders are common among veterans, Conner noted, with an estimated 15% of the center’s patients having served in the military.

The center works with the Veterans Administration and accepts TRICARE benefits, the health insurance program for active duty military personnel, along with private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid.

“We want to be a full-service provider,” Conner said.

Conner advised anyone experiencing chronic fatigue or feeling like they aren’t able to perform their job or daily tasks at full capacity to consider taking a closer look at their sleep patterns.

“Probably the biggest indicator is how you’re feeling in the daytime,” he said. “If you feel like you’re working under your maximum, you feel like you’re not really getting the most out of your career, and you’re waking up tired and you need a nap when you get home from work, those are oftentimes red flags.”

The center’s Lafayette location officially opened its doors this week and is accepting new patients.