Bharatiya Janata Party's Mumbai Maharashtra chief Chandrakant Patil on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi only sleeps for two hours a day and works for 22 hours to contribute towards the nation. PM Modi, in an interview in 2011, stated that he slept for only 3.5 hours a day and many of his doctor friends advised him to sleep for longer.
This notion that sleeping less and working for longer hours is akin to having more productivity has been challenged by many doctors and scientists.
BOOM went through research articles that discussed the ill-effects of losing out on sleep. According to doctors and established research, sleeping for 6-9 hours daily helps in cognitive, physiological, and physical development. BOOM also spoke to Dr. Hrudananda Mallick, president of the Indian Society for Sleep Research, and doctor at All India Institute of Medical Sciences to understand the impact of loss of sleep.
Loss of Sleep Is A Public Health Issue
In 2006, the National Institutes of Health, USA, funded a round of studies which highlighted that problems which arose due to sleep deprivation were an unmet public health need which needed to be addressed. Since then, the importance of sleep has been a recurrent issue in science circles.
A 2017 paper further highlights the degenerative health effects linked to the lack of sleep. Researchers from Netherlands conducted a qualitative analysis and scoped through studies to understand the short- and long-term consequences of sleep deprivation. They discussed how sleep is classified and the subsequent effects of the same when deprived.
Stages of sleep are primarily divided into REM- Rapid Eye Movement and NREM- Non- Rapid Eye Movement. REM sleep is when your eye moves, pupil twitches and your brain is carrying out intense activities, thus helping the brain to restore. In the NREM sleep mode, the body restores its tissues, muscles, bones, and strengthens the immune system.
The paper also highlights that our bodies follow a circadian rhythm. These are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. Sleep disruption also disrupts this rhythm leading to further changes.
Short Term Changes
Dr. Mallick told BOOM that the short-term repercussions of losing sleep include not being able to cognitively function the next day and feeling lethargic. "This will ultimately lead to loss of productivity and not being able to concentrate properly."
The Netherlands study also finds that the short- term changes include increased stress responsivity, reduced quality of life, emotional distress, mood disorders and other mental health problems, cognition, memory, and performance deficits, and behavior problems such as in otherwise healthy individuals.
Long Term Changes
The study finds out that long term changes include effects such as hypertension and metabolic issues.
Dr. Mallick agrees. "Long-term effects include obesity, diabetes mellitus, and it also hastens neurodegenerative disorders if a person does not sleep for the requisite hours every night," Dr. Mallick said. If people do not seep for the requisite hours in their mid-life, studies have found that they are at a higher risk of suffering from dementia-related issues.
Insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea are other common long-term effects of sleep deprivation.
Sleep is also believed to be intrinsically linked to nutrition. Two hormones that are responsible for sending hunger and fullness signals to the brain could be adversely affected if the sleep cycle of the person is poor. There is no established replicable association but some studies do support this theory.
Overall Development Hindered
Dr. Mallick emphasised that along with cognitive issues, lack of sleep affects other body functions that require neurotransmitters to help in carrying out functions.
At the Indian Society for Sleep Research, the committee organises panel discussions and workshops to help people understand the role of sleep and discuss prevailing research in the field. Dr. Mallick believes sleep research has to move beyond obstructive breathing and look at all the other dimensions.
"We have heard about sleep muscle atonia or paralysis when the muscles lose control. This is also common when the sleep cycle is not regular. This shows us that the neurotransmitter uptake and recharge is ongoing doing sleep and hindered sleep could affect muscle functions and growth too," Dr. Mallick explained.
The doctor concluded by saying that sleep science can only be improved with changes in lifestyle and learning to improve sleep schedules.
A checklist by Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health suggests setting a sleep schedule and sticking to it, along with avoiding large meals before dinner, regularly training and exercise but not doing anything vigorous before bed, avoiding caffeine at night, and trying out some cognitive behavioural therapies to maintain a proper sleep cycle.
The article also requests that any supplements should only be taken after a doctor has prescribed them for use.
