No Sleep Tonight

Do you feel sluggish all the time? Are the usual pick-me-ups not doing their magic? Liyana Zamzuri finds out what may be getting between you and a good night’s sleep.

- Liyana Zamzuri

While sleep requirements vary slightly from person to person, most healthy adults need between six to eight hours of sleep per night to function at their best. Yet, few of us manage to clock up this many hours of shut-eye. As the National Sleep Foundation puts it, “Most of us know that getting a good night’s sleep is important, but too few of us actually make those eight or so hours between the sheets a priority. We’ve forgotten what being really, truly rested feels like. To further complicate matters, stimulants like coffee and energy drinks, alarm clocks, and external lights – including those from electronic devices – interfere with our circadian rhythm or natural sleep-wake cycle.”

The big question: WHY?

Dr Puvaneswary Kandiah, a medical officer at Columbia Asia Hospital - Cheras, reveals that nocturia, a condition in which people wake up to urinate more than once at night, could also be one of the reasons why you’ve been feeling lethargic. During sleep, our body shuts down for six to eight hours, and most of us can go this long without needing to get up to urinate – but not if you have nocturia. Urinary tract infections, a prolapsed bladder, diabetes, and kidney infections are common causes of nocturia.

“Nocturia is one of the primary causes of sleep disturbance and has been shown to impair quality of life, health and productivity, with those experiencing two or more voids per night reporting significant bother,” explains Dr Puvanes.