Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Sleep disorders on the rise

C. Maya

Lack of sleep taking its toll on urbanites, say experts

Thiruvananthapuram: Sleep disorders owing to chronic lack of sleep, altered lifestyles and changing work culture are wreaking havoc with the lives of many urbanites.

According to a senior neurologist in the city, the number of young people with physical and psychological problems or whose performance at work is impaired owing to lack of sleep is steadily increasing.

There used to be a time when people used to wake up with the sun and then retire by sun down, affording themselves the luxury of at least nine hours' sleep. Today, because of work-related stress or increased demand on time, the number of people sleeping for less than the recommended eight-hour sleep every night has been going up.

On top of the list of the chronic sleep-deprived are those who work the nightshifts regularly, like those in the BPO sector and junior doctors, followed by those in the police department, pilots, long distance drivers and the nursing staff. There are also those who have trouble getting to sleep and then maintaining it for a sufficient period because of stress or anxiety.

"Sleep deprivation has become the bane of modern living. Young people who compulsively stay awake for long hours, depriving their bodies of the required six to eight hours of night-time sleep, would soon end up with many stress-related disorders. We see many with metabolic problems, elevated blood pressure, sexual problems and a host of gastric disorders because they do not have enough sleep," says Rajasekharan Nair, former professor of Neurology, Medical College.

A good number of patients with sleep-related problems are young, married individuals whose family life, interpersonal relations at home and workplace have been affected because they are forever tense and tired, says Dr. Nair.

Problems of sleep deprivation have begun to be addressed by physicians only in recent times and even the research work on sleep disorders would not be more than 15 years old

"Lack of sleep interferes with an individual's intellectual functioning, concentration and affects his productivity at work. In the initial stages, the main problem of sleep-deprived people seems to be chronic fatigue. This could later on move to depression, mood swings and more complicated psychological problems," says P.K. Jayarus, Associate Professor of Medicine, Medical College.

A person who is chronically sleep-deprived and is used to staying awake for long hours would find himself unable to sleep at the normal hours because the biorhythm has been interfered with, he adds.

Less than six-hours of nocturnal sleep could spell trouble because this is the minimum rest that the body requires. Daytime sleep cannot really compensate for loss of sleep at night and those on continuous night shifts run the risk of various health problems over the years, says Dr. Nair.

Recent research has shown that sleep deprivation interferes with the body's ability to regulate insulin production, increasing the risk of diabetes.

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