There are six fundamental categories of sleep disorders, insomnia is one of these and is also the most frequent, with the highest prevalence and incidence
Sleep little or bad is an alarm, something is wrong in our body, and if we don’t take action in the right way the risks are serious: diabetes, hypertension, obesity, decline in immune defenses and memory up to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. “L’insomnia it is one of many sleep disorders – explains Professor Giuseppe Plazzi, head of research “Sleep disorders and biological rhythms” at the Institute of Neurological Sciences of Bologna (Irccs) and since November 2022 president of the European narcolepsy network (Eunn) -. There are six fundamental categories of sleep disorders, insomnia is certainly one of these and is also the most frequent, therefore the one with the highest prevalence and incidence. The other disorders are breathing disorders linked to sleep, daytime hypersomnia disorders, i.e. hypersomnia of central origin, circadian rhythm disorders, parasomnias and movement disorders during sleep. Insomnia, in particular, can be chronic or short-term and is characterized by poor quality, short or insufficient sleep. What is the first thing someone who experiences sleep problems should do? “There are two things you can do in parallel – advises Plazzi -. The first is to talk to your doctor because insomnia can be, in addition to a pathology that still needs to be treated, also an alarm signal that something is wrong and therefore other pathologies in our body. The second, do a sort of self-examination to understand what things are wrong with your lifestyle that can also influence your sleep.”
Diagnosis and therapy are essential but it is also essential lifestyle. This is often reduced to the improper term ‘insomnia’ but this is not exactly the case. The contemporary rhythms of life (especially for those who live and work in the city) do not help but finding a balance between work, private and social life can already be a cure. “Within the working population at European level – notes Plazzi – approximately 30% of active people work shifts. Shift work is known to have a deleterious impact on the quality of sleep and also on the possibility of causing chronic sleep pathologies. Approximately 25%-30% of people who work as shift workers develop a chronic sleep pathology: an extremely high figure. Then there are all the forms of alteration of our biorhythms and circadian rhythms also caused by light and noise pollution with excessive sensory stimulation. These are all elements that can cause sleep disorders and which can have a huge impact on the quality and quantity of sleep, so much so that we record a high percentage of both adolescents and adults who now experience chronic sleep deprivation.”
What are the physical and mental risks of those who don’t take care of their sleep quality? “Sleep – replies Professor Plazzi who is also the scientific director and coordinator of the narcolepsy and hypersomnia clinic at the Irccs in Bologna – is not just a moment of rest and refreshment which is also its fundamental function, but it is also a moment of activation of the systems that archive our memories, therefore for memory, and a fundamental moment for the rearrangement of endocrinological rhythms starting from insulin but also cortisol. Sleep is a moment of readjustment of our cardiovascular system, a fundamental moment, and therefore with its deprivation we risk mood disorders, memory disorders, attention disorders, metabolic disorders starting from an increase in insulin resistance and therefore contracting diabetes , disorders of fat metabolism and therefore an increase in body weight, disorders linked to our cardiovascular system with a tendency to increase blood pressure, hypertension, and finally to the immune system and memory which, as we know, are closely linked. Ultimately, good sleep is a guarantee for one good immune defense.
Another element is that of neurodegenerative diseases caused by poor sleep quality. There are many studies today that demonstrate how the quality of sleep and the right quantity of sleep are fundamental to avoid the repositioning of anomalous proteins, they are called misfolded proteins, which are responsible for all the fundamental forms of neurodegenerative disorders that afflict man such as Alzheimer’s disease and all pathologies similar to it, i.e. tauopathies linked to the accumulation of tau protein in the brain, and Parkinson’s disease in all its differentiations. So cleaning our brain during sleep protects us from these pathologies.”
Tags: Sleeping guarantee immune defenses
