Environmentalists say that air pollution affects not only a healthy lifestyle but also a night’s peaceful sleep. Bringing children to the forefront of this fight against it is important
Sleep vs smoke
New studies have found that air pollution and its adverse effect on an individual can also result in a lack of sleep. High level of Air Quality Index (AQI) can indirectly result in an uneven sleep cycle. Chronic Sleep Deprivation can, in turn, create many other health-related problems. Not getting sleep enough doesn’t just reduce a person’s performance but also increases the incidents of unexpected mood swings during the day.
Sleep apnea is a phenomenon in which breathing stops as you sleep. Air pollution has become a major cause of the rise in particulate matter which is smaller than 2.5 microns. These particles go directly into the respiratory tract and increase the risk of major respiratory infections that can cause heart-attacks during sleep. Chronic obstructive disease and other strokes also get amped on account of sleep disorders.
While people have now become familiar with the diseases that are caused by the rise of air pollution, there is still a lot that needs to be understood to put it into persepective as a major cause of sleep-disorder. Antonella Zanobetti, a senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, who is also the first one to study the link between air pollution and sleeping disorder has said, “With this study, we found air pollution also increases the risk of poor sleep.”
The studies have found that an increase in air pollution has also disturbed the way a person breathes while they sleep. Sleep, which is basically a state where only the subconscious mind is active, is affected when breathing is uneven. It can also lead to low blood oxygen levels which can reduce quality sleep where you wake up frequently during the night.
It has also been found that another major cause of insomnia is constant exposure to artificial light during night. Also termed as light pollution, this exposure can lead to teary-eyes and lack of proper retinal function. Air pollution, on the other hand, can also lead to the same results if not checked. They can indirectly change the body clock when people delay the time that they choose to sleep from their usual one.
In major cities in India, people, especially the younger lot, who go out for studies or for work even during the day have been found to suffer from sleeping problems. Most of them complain that more than 80 per cent of their time in bed is reduced to being wide awake rather than getting a good night’s peaceful sleep. Others have also noted that their sleep quality has reduced considerably when they have gone out of their houses for prolonged periods during the day.
Air pollution is a serious threat to everyone. Quality sleep could suffer major setbacks even in people who have been healthy all their life. Controlling sleeping hours is important for a person’s sanity and air pollution should never be the cause for losing it.
(The author is Rohit Bansal, founder of an environmental health service.)