Amity Institute of Neuropsychology and Neurosciences (AINN), Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, organized a Maiden Guest Lecture on the Topic “Sleep in Health and Diseases” delivered by renowned sleep medicine expert, Dr. Sanjay Manchanda, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Hybrid Mode.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Guest, Dr. Devinder Singh Rana, Chairman, Board of Management, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, averred, “Amity University, under the visionary guidance and leadership of Dr. Ashok K. Chauhan, has set a benchmark in higher education, not only in India but across the world. We all know the importance of sound sleep as it affects our mental and physical well-being. A normal human being requires 6-8 hours of sleep to remain active throughout the day as loss of sleep can result in poor concentration, memory and fatigue. Therefore, this Guest Lecture will be extremely helpful in spreading awareness about the importance of sleep and will also highlight the various aspects where lack of sleep can affect us mentally and physically and how we can overcome that.”
Delivering the Guest Lecture title on the Topic ‘Sleep in Health and Diseases’, Dr. Sanjay Manchanda, Chairman, Department of Sleep Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, stated, “The main functions of sleep are restoration of mental and physical function, entering information acquired during periods of wakefulness into memory, re-establishing communication between various parts of the brain, time for body systems to restore their energy and repair their tissue. The current average sleep duration has been reduced by 20% in last 100 years, the optimal sleep time is 8.2 hrs per night and the average day worked sleep restricted by 1.5-2 hrs. 30-50% of adults experience insomnia during a one-year period and the prevalence of chronic insomnia is 10%. The world has faced many huge losses, both financial and loss of human lives, due to the disastrous tragedies which have occurred due to sleep deprivation such as the Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984), Star Princess(1995) and Little Rock Overshoot(1993), to name a few.”
Speaking about the signs and symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea(OSA) which leads to snoring, he further added, “Snoring is injurious to health and Obstructive Sleep Apnea(OSA) is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder. It causes you to repeatedly stop and start breathing while you sleep. Excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue, irritability, anxiousness, depression, poor memory and poor concentration are the signs of OSA. Consuming alcohol, sedatives, tranquilizers and hypnotics aggravates the problem and obesity is also one of the major factors contributing to OSA.”
Highlighting the characteristics and consequences of insomnia, he further stated, “Insomnia is characterized by difficulty in falling asleep. Mental health disorders, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, may disrupt your sleep. Medications also lead to insomnia and excessive consumption of caffeine, nicotine and alcohol aggravate the problem. We have very few medical practitioners who can treat insomnia, also teaching about sleep is almost absent from the mainstream educational system and people do not take their sleep problems seriously. Insomnia leads to worsening psychiatric disorders, prolonging medical illness, reducing quality of life, increasing accident risk, higher healthcare costs and cognitive impairment. Every person requires a different duration of sleep, for some people 4-5 hours of sleep is sufficient, while others may require 7-8 hours of sleep to function properly. However, sleeps are genetically determined and cannot be changed. Adequacy of sleep is a function of its duration, timing and quality which means sound sleep includes the duration of the sleep, its timing and quality of sleep.”
Concluding the session, he mentioned, “Sleep, sleepiness and performance are inextricably bound up with each other. Therefore, strategies for improving peak human performances must involve a sensible awareness of human limits and systems and procedures must be designed to play up human strengths rather than weaken them. In spite of the progress made, in most people sleep disorders today continue to be undiagnosed and untreated and inadequate sleep remains one of world’s largest deadliest and the costliest problems. We must change the way society deals with sleep and the human race will be lifted to a new level of energy, health and safety.”
Sharing his views on the occasion, Dr. Ashok K. Chauhan, Founder President, Amity Education Group, said, “The importance of as a sound sleep cannot be overlooked as it is critical for our overall well-being. We are extremely thankful to Dr. Sanjay Manchanda, who delivered such an informative and insightful lecture on Sleep in Health and Diseases. Research & innovation has always been our focus at Amity and therefore we would like to start a Research Center for Sleep Research and Study at Amity, which can undertake unprecedented research in this field.”
The Guest Lecture was followed by a "Q&A" session where Dr. Manchanda answered the queries of the students and the event was attended by the students, faculty, scholars and researchers of Amity in large numbers