Mar 15 2015 : The Times of India (Mumbai)
Mumbai's working women sleep-deprived, says survey
Malathy Iyer
94% Of The Respondents Don't Get 8 Hrs
A great sleep recession seems to have hit Mumbai's working women.
new survey among the city's corporate women shows that the majority--almost 94% of respondents--don't get adequate sleep.A third of these seem to be extremely sleep-deprived, barely managing six hours of sleep.
Sleep has in recent years emerged as the big health indicator, with doctors like endocrinologist Dr Shashank Joshi saying that a person sleeping for less than five hours risks developing diabetes.
The survey , which was conducted between October 2014 and January 2015, saw doctors from L H Hiranandani Hospital in Powai interviewing 200 women working in the corporate sector on their health-related concerns. “Travelling is a big concern among Mumbaikars. We found that women travelled for two or more hours every day , but slept for barely six hours. This is a worrisome trend,“ said Hiranandani Hospital CEO Dr Sujit Chatterjee.
The survey showed that 30.04% of the 200-odd respondents slept for less than six hours, and 60.84% slept for between six to eight hours. Doctors like sleep specialist Dr Preeti Devnani feel that an eight-hour sleep is necessary to stay healthy . “An eight-hour sleep helps people concentrate better, increases their immunity , reduces stress and f allows them to live longer,“ said Dr Devnani from Jaslok Hospital, Peddar Road.
The US Centers for Diseases Control last year said that insufficient sleep is emerging as a public health epidemic.Recently , the Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health published a study in the journal Pediatrics titled, “The Great Sleep Recession“.
Its researchers surveyed over 2,70,000 teenagers in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades between 1991 and 2012 and I found that they were sleeping for seven hours a day , which is two hours less than their nine-hour need.
The reasons for sleep dep rivation are different for various age groups. Dr Devnani's own survey a couple of years back showed that every fourth teenager in the 15-17 age-group was severely sleep deprived. “Sleep deprivation is a chronic state of loss of sleep due to reasons like peer pressure, use of electronics, gadgets etc. The adolescents of today are falling prey to `Ipad Insomnia' that leads to sleep procrastination, causing chronic sleep deprivation,“ she added.
With women, sleep recession is at times the result of their multi-tasking role. Dr Shashank Joshi, who consults at Lilavati Hospital in Bandra (W), said, “Women end up working at office and equally hard at home. They don't sleep adequately and could become irritable or develop autoimmune conditions such as hypothyroidism or even heart disease.“
Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty , who was a member of the survey team of L H Hiranandani Hospital in Powai, said the sleep chart was a “window to the mental health of women“. “Disturbed, inadequate or excessive sleep or sleep deprivation can be the cause or consequence of mental disorders. Long working hours and office or relationship angst are hidden causes beneath the sleep window,“ said Dr Shetty .
He also felt that women would be willing to discuss their sleep window period, allowing for earlier intervention.
Dr Devnani said that sleep deprivation in healthy persons even for a day can induce to insulin resistance.
“Studies have shown that even half a night's sleep loss may lead to lead to increased blood pressure in people,'' Dr Devnani added.
The city also has a high incidence of severe sleep-related disorders such as sleep apnea in which the patient has several pauses in breathing while he or she is asleep.