The Inland Echo

By Mariana Israel

It’s difficult to fall asleep with the accelerated lives we lead and to accomplish the classic eight hours of sleep necessary seems to be an impossible mission. Preoccupations such as stress, work, and economic instability are, among others, some of the factors that prevent sleep in adults as well as that of adolescents and children.

Nevertheless, getting a good night’s rest is no minor topic. On the contrary, it is extremely important. But what happens when there are other factors involved beyond the psycho-social-economic problems that conspire against the quality of sleep?

Or rather, what happens when poor sleeping conditions begin to affect life and health? “In the beginning we need to say that the quality of sleep and health status are two factors that are closely related being that one affects the other and vice-versa. For example, if one person suffers from a disease it is probable that due to the pain or discomfort they feel, or because they need to medicate themselves at a certain hour, suffer from repeated interruptions in their sleep pattern. As time goes on, it is probable that their quality of rest becomes modified. This is a case where initially there is no history of sleep disorders, but the health problems interfere with the hours of sleep”, explained Dr. Daniel Perez Chada, Chief of Pulmonary Care Services and the Director of the Sleep Medicine Clinic at the Austral University Hospital (AUH).

A different circumstance involves patients that suffer from sleep disorders, such as chronic insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or restless leg syndrome to mention a few of the primary causes of sleep irregularity.

“What can also occur is that no disorder exists but what does exist can be a considerable amount of preoccupations, of situations that provoke anxiety, or of stress that prevents rest”, the specialist added.

“The opposite occurs as a consequence of changes in sleeping habits that, in some cases, are ‘chronic’ as a result of working nightshifts or taking long work trips that eventually compromise the quality of life and health. As an example, we can mention the workers that work rotating shifts or workers who work underground whom, especially during winter in the northern hemisphere, practically get no exposure to sunlight during the day, and that after a while begin to suffer- among other complications- digestive problems ”, Dr. Perez Chada mentioned.

To make matters worse, poor sleeping conditions or permanent alterations between sleeping and staying awake at night, are risk factors for accidents at work or in traffic.

Differentiation of Conditions and Some Advice.

As Dr. Perez Chada concluded “The number of sleep disorders classified are around one hundred. There are many reasons in which- going beyond the results of the medical examinations- the diagnostics are very different”.
One of the most common disorders is insomnia that is classified as acute when it is triggered by a specific situation or as chronic if the disorder persists.

“You have to differentiate between one person that comes for a medical consultation and says that its been days since they have slept or that having had recently slept early, could fall sleep at three in the morning and wake up at six in the morning from one that tells us that they went to bed at midnight, fell asleep at four in the morning and woke up at two in the afternoon the following day. In this second case scenario there does not exist a case of insomnia but a delay phase” the Doctor distinguished.

“When the problem is insomnia (difficulty in falling or staying asleep), the first thing that must be done is to provide the patient with instructions so that they can organize and modify their sleep patterns. This involves: sleeping or waking up at the same hour, sleeping in a room that is more or less as dark as possible and in which their is hardly any noise, and the use the bed as a place to sleep. Avoid bringing work or food to bed because then the bed begins to functions as an office or dining room. If in attending to these hygienic measurements- which includes avoiding coffee and energizing drinks a while before realizing physical activity in the earlier hours- there are no results, the second step is to then begin a behavioral treatment for insomnia. Only in this case, and of course never by self-medication, should treatment be administered”, Dr. Daniel Perez Chada emphasized.

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