So much to do and such little time. Always in a rush, always in a hurry to finish daily chores, new assignments  and longing to do more to keep pace with others. Day seems short. Work spills on to the night with endless cups of coffee, long hours at the office, and sometimes returning home in the morning. Look at the call centres, where day and night are no different.

In this race to move ahead, or at times even to chase the sunrise, it is a question of the survival of the most efficient – (not the fittest!). Compromise is made on eating, exercising and sleeping. And the result is premature ageing, obesity, metabolic syndromes, diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart diseases and sleep disorders.
Sleep is restorative, a natural healer, a remedy for so many maladies. And where it is disturbed, havoc is wrought! But modernisation has reduced it to seven hours. And competitiveness to five hours! It is not just the quantity but the quality of sleep that is equally important. A fragmented disturbed sleep can cause problems galore. And very often this may go unrecognised. This brings us to a little peep into what is sleep apnea, snoring and how life style changes have increased its incidence.

Why do sleep disorders occur? And what are they?

Awareness and understanding of sleep disorders will go a long way in enhancing the quality of life and controlling co-morbid conditions like diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart diseases, strokes and sudden deaths. This apart, disturbed sleep at night (often unrecognised) and laughingly attributed to snoring may causes daytime sleepiness, forgetfulness,  memory lapses, fatigue , personality changes and even sexual dysfunction.

Sleep deprivation too is not without its share of problems. Whatever is away from nature can never do much good.  Changing job styles, frequent travels, jet lags, odd working hours are all contributing factors. Even children are caught in the web — homework, projects and television!  Not to be forgotten are the video games and PCs and the endless games on the mobile. Not even the labourers are spared. Working hard during the day, television may be the only source of entertainment at night, again eating into their sleep.

 But there are solutions to every problem. It all begins with recognising one.
And the remedial measures: Firstly to understand whether there is a genuine problem or the insomnia is due to excessive tea, coffee, alcohol, or other medications. Next is to assess whether sleep deprivation is the contributing factor. Further studies for analysing sleep related disorders are now systematically done. Eat right, exercise well and don't economise on sleep. It is the best anti aging measure. To grow old is in the hands of God but to stay fit is in our hands.  

The author is MD, Department Of Chest Medicine And Sleep medicine, Lilavati  Hospital, Mumbai.