You lose sleep one single night. The next day, your eyes are red, you are irritable, lack focus and are not able to work to your full capacity. Your body begs for rest. Now, multiply that by many months or years, depending on how much you cut down on your sleep. Imagine the price your body pays.
N. Ramakrishnan, director, Nithra Institute of Sleep Sciences, and senior consultant, sleep medicine, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, sees first-hand the ill-effects of such behaviour. “A majority of us have to re-learn how to sleep. A day is divided into three sections of eight hours each. What we are doing is borrow heavily from the eight hours each allotted to sleep and family time. We extend work hours and bring work home. We answer the cell phone, watch television, work on the computer, all this in the bedroom. We violate the sanctity of the space,” he feels.
In the process, people accumulate sleep debt that can never be paid back in full; a debt that takes a toll on their lifespan. “We try to live with less sleep and function as effectively. We walk around like zombies. We develop hormonal imbalances,” he adds. A host of non-communicable diseases can be traced to reduced sleep. Even children are not spared, he says. So many behavioural problems in them can be traced to lack of sleep.
People stuck to a regular, high-quality sleep pattern till the early 1900s, says V. R. Pattabhiraman, consultant in pulmonary and sleep medicine, KMCH, Coimbatore. The light bulb, Thomas Edison’s invention, lit up the world, but its popularity sliced a whole hour away from people’s sleep. “From then on, it’s been a downward spiral. We have been delaying bedtime. We attempt to catch up on sleep debt during the day, even lapse into moments of microsleep, but day-time sleep will never have the architecture of a good night’s sleep,” he says. “The focus must be on quantity as well as quality of sleep. Only then will you wake up fresh and have the energy to face a new day.”
Consultant pulmonologist S. Santhakumar of KG Hospital, Coimbatore, says that sleep apnea (pauses in breathing during sleep) is a growing problem. Sadly, it is unreported and under-reported. “This results in oxygen deficiency; it hits the heart and brain, two organs that need it the most. It is said that four people in 100 have sleep apnea, usually undetected.”
The problem is that sleep disorders are difficult to diagnose. Doctors have to wade through other symptoms before they zero in on the problem. Detailed interaction with patients and sleep studies help identify the cause, he says. We must also learn to give more importance to quality of sleep, feels Dr. Santhakumar. “Because, how deep you sleep in the night decides your day-time performance.”
A good dose of snooze
Adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a day. Never set your alarm for a lesser duration.
Avoid using the cell phone in the bedroom, even to check time. Invariably, you end up surfing social media.
Go in for dim lighting in the bedroom. Remove clocks. The space is only to sleep or for physical intimacy.
Develop sleep hygiene. Draw up a routine and stick to it.
Do not exercise before hitting the bed.
Avoid stimulants such as tea and coffee after 6 p.m. Alcohol is a strict no-no
(From 2008, World Association of Sleep Medicine celebrates the second Friday in March as World Sleep Day. It is meant to draw attention to the benefits of healthy sleep)
