Sleep deprivation is killing you

New research has found that sleep deprivation is causing Non communicable disease (NCD) in Bangladesh. This effect is triggered by snoring as well. Recently a study by the Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC has published the findings in the 'Sleep health - Journal of the National Sleep Foundation'.

Data were collected from 12,338 men and women aged ≥35 years residing in urban and rural Bangladesh focusing on socio-demographic, behavioural, lifestyle, and chronic disease (diagnosed by registered physician), sleep pattern and snoring from the respondents. Hypertensive patients are the highest who has the most sleep deprivation. Inadequate total sleep that is less than 7 hours and presence of snoring either in men or women showed positive link with chronic disease status. However, it was not clear how they are associated. For example, in one hand, it is possible that inadequate sleep (less than 7 hours) and snoring are causing the development of chronic disease; or in the other hand, it is possible that because of the chronic disease, people are experiencing snoring and shorter duration of sleep.

Sleep is a fundamental part of human life. However, any deprivation of the sleep either its quality and/or duration cause numerous health hazards. This coupled with snoring makes it ever more vulnerable. In developed countries, earlier research reported that adequate sleep is required for the body to perform its normal somatic, cognitive and psychological processes. It was found that around 150 million people worldwide suffer from sleep problems that might affect their quality of life and leave them vulnerable to other adverse outcomes. A multicounty study indicated that nearly 17% of the population in developing nations suffer from sleep problems, similar to the prevalence of sleep disturbances in the developed world (reported to be about 20%).

Dr Mahfuzar Rahman, lead author of the study has highlighted that poor sleep could be causing you non communicable disease, especially hypertension. Therefore, if a person chronically sleeps less than 7 hours and/or has snoring, the person is more likely to develop any form of chronic diseases in future.