By Diego A Golombek, Laura Booi, Dominic Campbell, Walter D. Dawson, Harris Eyre, Brian Lawlor and Agustín Ibañez
Sleep diplomacy highlights the urgent need to address the widespread issue of sleep deprivation and its detrimental effects on overall health, particularly brain health and healthy ageing. By providing practical advice on sleep hygiene, healthy schedules, and light exposure, sleep diplomacy aims to promote a comprehensive approach to well-being. Despite the well-established importance of sleep for optimal cognitive function, emotional regulation, and physical abilities, it is often neglected in public and medical recommendations. Our proposed concept of sleep diplomacy also offers practical recommendations to address sleep issues in various settings and populations.
Imagine there was a treatment which could improve cognitive function; boost the immune system; help with losing weight and regulating metabolism; protect the cardiovascular system; regulate waste clearance of the brain; and increase mood, emotional self-regulation, and productivity. Well, we already have it: sleep. A healthy sleep–wake cycle promotes well-being and general health and, in particular, brain health. However, about 62% of the world's population fail to get the recommended minimum of 7 h of night sleep for adults. Sleep deprivation consequences are pervasive: from metabolic, cardiovascular, and brain disruption to increased accident rates and, moreover, heavy costs on the overall economy (ie, sleep-related problems cost 1–2% of the Gross Domestic Product in high-income countries). Even with increasing evidence on the needs of healthy sleep for our vital cycle, we tend to neglect its importance when making medical and lifestyle recommendations for the general population, including its glaring absence in brain health guidelines.
Read the full article in The Lancet.
