World Sleep Day is celebrated on March 21. One third of a person’s life is spent in sleep, and five days without sleep will kill a person, so sleep is a physiological need. As a process necessary for life, sleep is an important part of the body’s recovery, integration and consolidation of memory, and is an indispensable part of health. According to the World Health Organization survey, 27% of people have sleep problems. In order to raise awareness of the importance of sleep, the Global Sleep and Health Program, sponsored by the International Psychiatric Organization, launched a global campaign in 2001 to designate March 21, the first day of spring, as “World Sleep Day”.
World Sleep Day – Overview of Origins
In the new technological era of the 21st century, people’s awareness of health has never been higher, and the new concept of “having health is everything” has taken root in people’s minds, so the issue of sleep has attracted international attention. According to a survey conducted by the World Health Organization on 25,916 patients in 14 countries and 15 regions in primary care, it was found that 27% of people had sleep problems, and the incidence of insomnia was reported to be as high as 32 to 50% in the United States, 10 to 14% in the United Kingdom, 20% in Japan, 30% in France, and more than 30% in China, and 50% of students had sleep deprivation. The negative impact of sleep disorders on quality of life is significant, but a significant number of patients are not properly diagnosed and treated. Sleep disorders have now become a prominent problem threatening the public worldwide.
To raise awareness of the importance of sleep, the Global Sleep and Health Program, sponsored by the International Foundation for Mental Health and Neuroscience, launched a global campaign in 2001 to designate the first day of spring, March 21, as World Sleep Day. The focus of the campaign is to draw attention to the importance of sleep and the quality of sleep. “The reason why World Sleep Day is set on the first day of spring is that the cycle of seasonal changes and the circadian pattern of sleep are closely related to people’s daily life.
According to market research in six cities in China, the prevalence of insomnia among adults is as high as 57% in one year. The results of the “Survey on the Sleep Status of Physicians in Various Specialties” conducted by the Psychiatrists Branch of the Chinese Medical Association in cooperation with Sanofi-Aventis, which surveyed 1,914 physicians in 30 hospitals nationwide, showed that 69.4% of physicians had sleep disorders in 2002. In 2003, World Sleep Day was officially introduced to China by the China Sleep Research Association.
World Sleep Day – why it was created
Sleep takes up one third of our lives. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a survey of more than 20,000 primary care patients in 15 sites in 14 countries found that 27% of the population had a sleep disorder.
The survey found that 27% of people have sleep problems. Insomnia has a significant negative impact on quality of life, but a significant number of patients are not properly diagnosed and treated.
Adequate sleep, a balanced diet and appropriate exercise are three internationally recognized health standards. However, there is a general lack of awareness of the importance of sleep, and in 2003, the China Sleep Research Association (CSRA) officially introduced World Sleep Day to China. According to the latest sleep survey results published by the China Sleep Research Association, the incidence of insomnia among Chinese adults is 38.2%, which is higher than the incidence of insomnia in foreign developed countries. Medical research shows that occasional insomnia can cause fatigue and uncoordinated movements the next day, while long-term insomnia can bring consequences such as inability to concentrate, memory impairment and inability to work.
”The purpose of World Sleep Day is to draw attention to the importance of sleep and the quality of sleep, and to remind people to pay attention to sleep health and quality. Concern for the quality of sleep is concern for the quality of life, and concern for sleep is concern for health. Insomnia has become an important issue that affects the health of modern people. It not only affects people’s mood, but even affects their immune system, and more importantly, insomnia is often one of the external manifestations of a potential disease in the body.
In a nutshell, World Sleep Day is a day to bring the world’s attention to all those who do not sleep well.
World Sleep Day – previous themes
2001: Sleep with open eyes
2002: Open the window of your mind and focus on sleep
2003: Sleep for health
2004: Sleep, the healthy choice
2005: Sleep and women
2006: Healthy sleep in the community
2007: Scientific sleep consumption
2008: Healthy life, good sleep
2009: Scientific management of sleep
2010: Good sleep is good for health
2011: Good sleep, healthy growth, scientific judgment of infant sleep quality
World Sleep Day – China Sleep Research Association
It is impossible to talk about World Sleep Day without mentioning this group – China Sleep Research Association (CSRA), which has promoted a series of thematic activities for World Sleep Day in China.
It is the most authoritative professional organization in the field of sleep science and technology in China, and is a national-level social organization. The China Sleep Research Association has been committed to promoting the development of sleep medicine and sleep technology, guiding the demand for sleep consumption and promoting the overall progress of the sleep industry.
The theme of “scientific sleep consumption” has been officially determined by CRS as one of the themes of World Sleep Day 2007 in China, and in 2007, CRS launched the project of promoting healthy sleep in China with the support of China Association for Science and Technology.
World Sleep Day – Measuring the amount of sleep
World Sleep Day
Insomnia is closely related to somatic diseases. Lack of sleep can lower the body’s immunity, lower its ability to fight and recover from diseases, make it easier to catch a cold, and aggravate other diseases or induce the onset of existing diseases, such as cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and hypertension. Practice also proves that post-surgical patients who do not sleep well will have significantly longer wound healing time. Children who suffer from severe sleep deprivation can affect their physical development. This is because the most growth hormone is secreted in children’s brain during sleep, especially during the deep sleep period, which is the main substance to promote the growth of children’s bones.
Sleep disorders include apnea syndrome in addition to insomnia. As for the application of drugs to help sleep, experts believe that this is still effective for solving short-term sleep problems, but for long-term sleep disorders, it is best for older people not to treat themselves with drugs, it is still very necessary to seek the help of a doctor
People usually think that as long as you sleep, sleep is good sleep, but I do not know that some of the small details shown in the sleep, is often a pre-sign of certain diseases.
Snoring: Tongue prolapse, obstructed airway, old age, obesity and other factors can cause snoring. Frequent snorers may suffer from sleep apnea syndrome, and when they sleep, their airways will be temporarily blocked, and they may even risk sudden death, and they may suffer from heart disease and stroke as a result. If you snore lightly, you can try to put the pillow higher, keep sleeping on your side and develop the habit of breathing through your nose during sleep; if you snore seriously, you need to go to the sleep and respiratory clinic of the hospital for examination.
Excessive sweating: Patients with hypoglycemia, hyperthyroidism and diabetes all have the characteristic of sweating a lot while sleeping. For these patients, you should ensure that the room temperature is appropriate and well ventilated, and also pay attention to whether there are adverse reactions in other parts of the body.
Teeth grinding: Teeth grinding is mainly caused by psychological factors. Fear, anger, hostility and resistance are hidden in the subconscious and will periodically manifest themselves in various ways, and teeth grinding is one of them. In addition, an uncoordinated bite is also the cause of teeth grinding disorder. Those who grind their teeth frequently should be treated promptly to prevent complications such as temporomandibular joint disorder due to excessive crown wear.
Drooling: Foreign body reactions can cause the phenomenon of drooling. For example, the installation of dentures will stimulate the glands to secrete saliva, and oral ulcers causing mucosal pain will also increase saliva secretion. Dr. Guo Yuan of the Department of Geriatrics of the People’s Hospital suggests that the elderly often drooling may be a pre-stroke performance, and families should be extra careful.
Nocturnal polyuria: frequent urination and polyuria at night may be caused by the stimulation and pressure of inflammation of the prostate gland, pelvis and other organs, and these conditions are common in the elderly. Therefore, elderly people who urinate a lot at night should go to the hospital for an ultrasound of the urinary and genital tracts, kidney function and other tests.
World Sleep Day – Healthy Sleep
World Sleep Day
Sleep
Sleep is a state of recurrent inertia and unresponsiveness, where the level of consciousness is reduced or disappears during sleep and most physiological activities and reactions go into an inert state. Through sleep, tired nerve cells are restored to normal physiological function and mental and physical strength is recovered. The secretion of growth hormone in the anterior pituitary gland is significantly increased during sleep, which is conducive to promoting the growth of the organism and to increasing nucleoprotein synthesis, which facilitates the storage of memory.
Sleep disorders
Sleep disorders are abnormalities in the quantity of sleep and abnormalities in the quality of sleep or certain clinical symptoms occurring during sleep, such as reduced sleep or excessive sleep, sleep walking disorder, etc. Various disorders that affect the ability to fall asleep or stay asleep normally also include excessive sleep, or abnormal sleep-related behaviors. Although sleep is essential for our survival, its exact role in maintaining the stability of the body’s internal environment has not yet been fully elucidated, and there is great individual variation in the need for sleep, with some healthy individuals requiring only 4 hours of sleep per day, while others need 10 hours of sleep.
Sleep apnea syndrome
Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is a group of syndromes characterized by repeated pauses in breathing during sleep for ≥10 seconds each, usually >20 pauses per hour, with a decrease in blood oxygenation measured by laboratory tests. Snoring (partially obstructed breathing during sleep) is a very common occurrence and only in rare cases suggests sleep apnea. Snoring is more common in obese people, three times more common than in normal people; in mild cases, it disturbs the peace of others, and in severe cases, it suggests obstructive apnea. Alcoholic beverages, psychostimulants, hypnotics and antihistamines can all aggravate snoring. Detailed examination of nasal cavity, oral cavity, soft palate, throat and neck should be performed for severe snoring. In China, the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) with snoring as the main symptom is 4%, and the prevalence of people over 65 years old is as high as 20% to 40%. The ultimate consequence of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide. The above figures remind clinicians that sleep disorders have become a common disease and should be aggressively diagnosed and treated.
World Sleep Day – Overview of the treatment of insomnia
In recent years, the World Health Organization and many domestic and foreign experts have attached great importance to the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia, and proposed the treatment principles of “treatment on demand” and “small intermittent doses” of sedative-hypnotic drugs. They advocate the importance of cultivating good sleep habits, psychological and environmental self-adaptation to improve sleep quality.