Sleep disorders, which usually occur in the elderly, are becoming a serious health challenge among youngsters, psychiatrists and pulmonologists have said.
Doctors have attributed the growing sleep problems among the youths to gadget addiction, that is dependence on mobile phones, laptops, gaming apart from peer and parental pressure and breaking of social cohesion in relationships.
This had led to disruption in sleep cycle or circadian (routine) rhythm. Doctors said that in order to restore the sleep cycle, conscious efforts are needed to maintain time and remove associated factors.
Sleep clinics examine the causes of disorders through various methods and counsel the patients accordingly.
Under a pulmonologist, sleep apnea (caused due to breathing problems) is better treated with modern aids.
Psychiatrist Dr Suvendu Narayan Mishra said those between 15 and 30 years of age have been visiting clinics with sleep complaints in recent times.
“To restore the sleep cycle, patients need to understand that the brain needs to get some rest before going to bed. In adults, it has been seen that long hours of watching screens keeps the brain active depriving sleep. So, my advice to the youngsters will be to stop watching mobile phones at least two hours before sleep,” he opined.
“If sleep disorders persist, it can lead to several complications that silently affect the organs including the cardio-vascular system and metabolic disorders like diabetes and thyroid.
“These metabolic disorders in turn cause other complications,” he added.
Doctors observed that in the rat race of modern life, students and professionals forget what is a sound routine for them. There are examples of students developing visible facial signs of not having good sleep.
Dr Pallabi Sahu, another psychiatrist, said students staying up late at night for studying and completing assignments leads students to suffer from sleeplessness.
“We divide sleep in two parts. One is rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in which eye movement in very quick succession occurs. This is studied when patients visit us. Another is non-rapid eye movement (NREM) in which deep sleep is caused. Urban lifestyle with its varied attractions has disturbed the sleep cycles. One needs to be aware about it,” Dr Sahu added.
Source : The Times of India
