On the occasion of World Sleep Day, Hospiten reminds us that sleep disorders can cause a variety of vascular, brain or heart pathologies in the medium and short term that have no solution. Consulting a specialist when you notice it is not a one-off event and that it is affecting our quality of life is key to preventing this from happening.
"Sleep plays a fundamental role in our emotional well-being, in the creation of new neuronal connections and it is also associated with the improvement of immune, endocrine or central nervous system functions that have an impact on improving our learning and memory", explains Dr. Txomin Navajas Carasa, specialist in Clinical Neurophysiology and Sleep Disorders at the Hospiten Rambla, Hospiten Bellevue, Hospiten Sur and Hospiten Lanzarote University Hospitals.
Dr. Navajas also states that "people spend a third of their lives sleeping and that is why it is so important to take care of our rest, since these are physiological processes generated in various parts of the brain." The negative events we experience in our lives and that cause us stress may be the cause of sleep disturbances in the form of dyssomnias.
From the start of the pandemic, there has been an increase in these types of disorders, since our daily routines and environments have been altered, with sudden changes in schedules and the extra time we have spent during lockdown watching television or using mobile phones. After the lockdown, consultations due to stress, anxiety or depression have increased and consequently, consultations about problems achieving effective, restful sleep.
Another cause of sleep disorders may be age, since all physiological processes deteriorate as we get older: with the decrease in cognitive abilities, the ability to achieve efficient sleep also decreases, and the more frequent insomnia becomes. Older people have greater difficulty sleeping soundly, they have lighter sleep that means they wake up several times a night.
Hospiten offers a diagnosis of these sleep problems at their hospitals, which allows the type of disorder to be identified and its treatment planned. Thus, the problem is prevented from becoming chronic and getting worse, giving rise to pathologies that have no solution.