Somnologist, Candidate of Medical Sciences Sofia Cherkasova on January 21 told RT in an interview what health problems chronic lack of sleep can lead to.
Sleep deprivation has both immediate and long-term consequences, she says. Immediate ones include irritability, depression, decreased intellectual performance, and headaches.
If we are talking about regular sleep deprivation that lasts for years, then the health consequences can be much more serious. In particular, as the doctor said, this can lead to depression, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes and dementia.
“The first physical problems with lack of sleep are usually associated with a decrease in immunity, that is, it is an increased predisposition to colds, viral, bacterial, pustular skin diseases, and after that other problems begin,” Cherkasova noted.
She also pointed to the relationship between lack of sleep and weight gain against the background of an increased feeling of hunger. In addition, a person with lack of sleep is unlikely to find the strength to play sports.
Partially correct the effects of lack of sleep can daytime sleep, said Cherkasova. According to her, for a person with lack of sleep, it will be useful to sleep during the day for an hour. However, it is better to wake up no later than 2 or 3 pm, as this can lead to insomnia and trouble falling asleep in the evening.
On January 18, it was reported that in Moscow, a 16-year-old teenager died of a rare form of insomnia, which is classified as an incurable hereditary disease.
Candidate of Medical Sciences, neurologist-somnologist Elena Tsareva on January 18 spoke in an interview with Izvestia about how to recognize the symptoms of the rarest form of insomnia – fatal family insomnia, which caused the death of a teenager.
According to her, the key signs that insomnia has a deadly form are the complete inability of a person to fall asleep and the lack of response to sleeping pills due to the fact that the disease changes the structure of the brain.
