Sleep is the most neglected part of recovery after illness, said Dr Sanjeev Bagai, Paediatrician & Paediatric Nephrologist, Chairman & Managing Director, Nephron Health Care, while speaking at WION Health Pulse on Wednesday.
Emphasising strongly the importance of sleep, Dr Bagai said, “Today’s generation generally tends to sleep late, and the younger sleep even later. If you sleep late or sleep less, it is sleep disruption, which is an inflammatory episode in your body, and this happens recurrently. There are scientific studies to prove that if you have disruptive sleep patterns for five nights out of seven for six weeks or eight weeks, then you have a 20% to 30% decline in your cognitive skills. That’s huge in terms of memory, attention, behaviour patterns, aggression and relationship building, and this is affecting the youth even more.”
We also tend to overlook the importance of light; you have to look at the lux of light, he said, adding, “Darkness at night affects your circadian rhythm, it releases more cortisol, decreases testosterone in men, and disrupts oestrogen in women; these are all scientific things.”
Referring to the increasing use of digital devices and social media, Dr Bagai said, “You have to look at screen time; you have to look at social media impact even in the time of hospital or recovery.”
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“Besides, during recovery from illness you have to take care of hygiene at home, which we take for granted. Hygiene is very important during recovery in terms of infection control and overall ambience.”
“For wellness as a whole, you have to look at the complete umbrella. Human beings, when they become ill, they are not a disease entity. They are not just a bed number or ward number.”
Mini Shastri, Founder, Om Yoga Shala, said that sleep is one of the three pillars of Ayurveda, besides diet and lifestyle.
