New Delhi: It becomes more widely accepted that insomnia, a disorder characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep, can — and can also be caused by — a variety of chronic medical problems. Its effects extend well beyond fatigue during the day; it can exacerbate existing medical conditions, make treating them more difficult, and even lead to the development of new ones. The non-mutual link between insomnia with chronic health issues presents major challenges to both patients and health professionals.
In an interaction, Dr. Priyadarsini Parida, Consultant Dept – Interventional Pulmonology & Sleep Medicine, Manipal Hospital, Bhubaneshwar, explained the association between insomnia and chronic health problems like heart diseases.
Studies have linked insomnia to the onset and progression of several chronic illnesses. That connection to cardiovascular seats is among the more prominent. Chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of hypertension, heart attacks, and stroke because it triggers inflammatory reactions and disrupts the body’s ability to regulate blood pressure and heart rate. Also, insomnia sufferers often experience inflammation, which is another factor leading to metabolic dysregulation that can cause obesity, type 2 diabetes, and insulin resistance.
Anxiety and depression are common disorders that go hand in hand with disrupted sleep. Chronic insomnia leads to mood swings, cognitive decline, and stress, among other negative manifestations which can compound sleep problems. Chronic deprivation of sleep reduces the quality of life as well as increases the difficulty of the body to cope with physical and mental stress properly.
Sleeplessness, on the other hand, is often a symptom or side effect of a chronic illness. Common sources of pain that can significantly interfere with sleep include conditions such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, and chronic back pain. People with chronic pain have trouble both falling asleep and getting deep, restful sleep, which compounds their sense of pain and sets up a vicious cycle of fatigue.
In addition, individuals with conditions that involve respiratory problems, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), may find they have trouble breathing at night, which can also disrupt their sleep. Sleep apnoea, a disorder in which your breathing pauses intermittently while you sleep, is one of the common problems among individuals with chronic medical diseases. It can cause poor sleep quality and a range of health problems, including heart disease and stroke.
For providing comprehensive care, sleep issues need to be addressed by all healthcare practitioners— insomnia has substantial negative effects from disruption in chronic health conditions. A multimodal approach is often required to effectively address this disorder which may include pharmacotherapy, CBT-I, and lifestyle modifications including improved sleep hygiene, stress management, and managing underlying pain.
To sum up, the relationship between chronic health problems and sleeplessness is complex and mutually entangled. To improve patient outcomes and to raise quality of life, it is essential to understand this relationship. By tailoring treatment plans to address the contributing medical illnesses and the resultant sleep disturbances, clinicians can design more holistic and successful chronic health treatments.
Chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of hypertension, heart attacks, and stroke because it triggers inflammatory reactions and disrupts the body’s ability to regulate blood pressure and heart rate. Health News Health News: Latest News from Health Care, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Disease, Nutrition, Healthcare
