Dr. Rajesh Swarnakar, Director, Get Well Hospital, Nagpur told this citizen journalist : “Both older and younger generations are at the risk of getting sleep disorders; older generation is affected because of cerebral atrophy and degenerative changes whereas young generation is affected because of anxiety induced problems.”

Snoring is the primary indicator for underlying sleep disorders, but it is not always true that all the people who snore have sleep disorder. It is estimated that 3% to 12% pre-school age children snore but are healthy. About 1% to 3% children who snore can have sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

Dr. Prasad Karnik, technical director, International Institute of Sleep Sciences, told this citizen journalist, “The major cause that adds to sleep disorder in India is sleep deprivation; it not only leads to sleep disorders but also to some other major health disorders.” He added, “About 90 percent people living in Mumbai are deprived of sleep. Other factor that adds up is Circadian rhythm sleep disorder which occurs due to disturbance in our biological clock.”

Dr. Swarnakar suggested, “Sleep Hygiene is something which is to be maintained, not only to control sleep disorder problems, but also other health problems.”

Sleep hygiene states that a person should have his dinner between 7-8pm, and should go for a brisk walk after the dinner. Lastly, you should go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 6am. The sleep disorder is a new area of research globally, so there is no comprehensive Indian specific data available in this field. But more and more research in this field and creating awareness among the people is the need of the hour.