Modern lifestyles are not to blame for insomnia

The Western world’s ‘sleep deprivation epidemic’ is frequently researched
Now study says insomnia not linked to urbanisation and electrification of homes
Town-dwellers retired later but didn’t sleep less than villagers without electricity
‘We can’t just blame electrification’ for sleep disorders in industrialised countries
Insomnia in developing world is approaching those in developed nations

Claudia Tanner For Mailonline

Published:
07:46 EDT, 19 July 2017

|
Updated:
09:38 EDT, 19 July 2017

e-mail

View
comments

Insomnia is estimated to affect a quarter of the Western world.

Our ‘open all hours’ culture, increasing stress noise and lights and mobile devices are just a few of the modern lifestyle factors that are blamed.

But increasingly, research suggests that our 21st century ‘sleep deprivation epidemic’ is not linked to urbanisation as previously thought.

A new study has now found that living in a built-up area and the electrification of homes does not decrease the amount of sleep that people get.

Scientists have previously proposed that those who have electricity stay up later, but do not necessarily get up later to compensate. But this was not found to be the case.

Researchers found that people living in a town retired on average one hour later, but did not sleep less compared to people in a village without electricity, because they also rose an hour later in the morning.

A new study suggests that our ‘sleep deprivation epidemic’ is not linked to urbanisation (file)

Senior author, associate professor Laura Roden from the University of Cape Town, added: ‘We will probably never know how our ancestors slept.

‘But as urbanisation spreads across the globe, it is important to study how people’s sleeping habits change. After they’ve changed, it will be too late’

Happy people ARE healthier: Some 65% of studies show a link…

Restaurant placemats may help children eat their greens:…

More than 35 Alzheimer’s drugs to hit the market before…

Bangladeshi boy, 13, with a FOOTBALL-sized hernia that…

Insomnia – classed as difficulty in getting to sleep or staying asleep for long enough to feel refreshed the next morning – may be related to the brain’s sleep and wake cycle’s going haywire.

And the cost of insomnia nights is more than just fatigue. Lack of regular sleep is linked to raised risk of depression, obesity, heart attack, stroke and diabetes – and it shortens your life expectancy.

How the research was carried out

A team led by the University of Surrey examined sleeping patterns of people from two neighbouring communities in Mozambique – the small electrified urban town Milange and the non-electrified rural community Tengua.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, was performed by Dr Andrew Beale, who spent more than two years living in Milange.

He said: ‘I noticed that the sleep-wake patterns of people around me were much earlier than I was used to from the UK.

‘There is an intense debate going on right now on how our ancestors might have slept, and how this was changed by industrialisation.

‘Looking at the effects of urbanisation on these communities is one way of helping us understand what happens.’

Another study author, professor Malcolm von Schantz, said: ‘What these findings indicate is that the delay in sleep timing that comes with access to electricity does not directly cause people to sleep less.

‘In other words, if indeed people do sleep less in industrialised countries, we can’t just blame electrification.

‘The step from delayed to shortened sleep seems to require more changes in behaviours.’

INSOMNIA IS IN YOUR GENES, NOT ALL IN YOUR HEAD

A Dutch study has identified seven genes that put people at increased risk of developing sleeplessness.

Their discovery, that a tendency to suffer sleep problems is biological, rather than psychological, offers a new understanding of the condition.

The research, by scientists at Vrije University in Amsterdam, was carried out by mapping the DNA of more than 113,000 people from Britain and the Netherlands.

Sleep specialist Professor Eus Van Someren said: ‘Insomnia is all too often dismissed as being ‘all in your head’.

‘Our research brings a new perspective. Insomnia is also in the genes.’

It means that targeted treatments could be developed, rather than the ten million prescriptions for sleeping tablets that are made each year.

A global sleeplessness epidemic

But evidence is emerging it is not just a Western problem: researchers described a ‘Global sleeplessness epidemic’ in the journal Sleep in 2012.

They reported levels of sleep problems in the developing world are approaching those seen in developed nations, which they say is linked to an increase in problems like depression and anxiety.

A University of Warwick team suggest there is an estimated 150 million adults suffering from sleep-related problems across the developing world.

Bangladesh, South Africa and Vietnam had extremely high levels of sleep problems, in some cases surpassing Western sleeplessness rates.

‘It seems that sleep problems are not linked to urbanisation as the people surveyed were mostly living in rural settings, said lead author Dr Saverio Stranges.

‘We might expect even higher figures for people living in urban areas.’