Sleep Summit-2024: Sleep disorders making people ill, killing productivity

Dr. Prakash, who organised the Sleep Summit-2024, a conference addressing sleep disorders, highlighted that in such patients, correcting their sleep patterns often leads to a notable reduction in the medications required for conditions like high blood pressure.

LUCKNOW: Lack of sleep is gradually affecting more people worldwide, particularly those in the corporate world, leading to hypertension and impacting their professional lives, say doctors.

At least 5-hours of deep sleep is needed for an individual in 24-hour cycle. (Sourced)

“Among 25% of cases coming to us, we observe that lack of sleep or fragmented sleep is a significant contributor to their illnesses,” said Dr. Ved Prakash, head of the department of pulmonary and critical care medicine at King George’s Medical University. Dr. Prakash, who organised the Sleep Summit-2024, a conference addressing sleep disorders, highlighted that in such patients, correcting their sleep patterns often leads to a notable reduction in the medications required for conditions like high blood pressure.

“At least 5-hours of deep sleep is needed for an individual in 24-hour cycle. But with troubling situations such as obstructive sleep apnea people are unable to go into deep sleep,” he said.

Explaining how to identify if one suffers from fragmented sleep, Dr. Prakash said that symptoms such as snoring, gasping, or choking during sleep, as well as morning headaches, are indicators of a sleep disorder. “You will perform poorly in your professional life, as you will feel the constant need to sleep throughout the entire day,” he added.

Disturbed or broken sleep, where individuals wake up several times during the night, can raise blood pressure each time they wake up and fall asleep again. This occurs because sleep comprises multiple stages, and upon waking up, individuals may return to an earlier stage. This disturbance can lead to high blood pressure and hypertension.

Insomnia is estimated to affect approximately 10% of adults worldwide, making it one of the most common sleep disorders globally. The impact of obstructive sleep apnea affects around 3 to 7% of adults globally.