Edited by Maria Concetta Pellicciari, Professor at UniCamilus
On World Sleep Day, today we celebrate sleep, a condition that characterises about a third of our existence.
The initiative promoted by the World Sleep Society (https://worldsleepsociety.org), which has adopted the slogan ‘Regular sleep, Healthy future’ for this year’s edition, aims at raising international awareness of the importance of sleep as a prominent neuro-physiological state in contributing to an overall optimal quality of life.
It is well known that, from both a behavioral and a neuro-physiological point of view, sleep is a dynamic, active and complex process, whose quality is significantly correlated to several variables, such as lifestyle, age, health conditions and presence of a potential pathology.
Poor sleep quality and, more specifically, sleep disorders are considered a major health problem, with an incidence of 45% in the world population and a major impact on people’s well-being.
Cognitive abilities and psycho-motor functions are just some of our brain activities that can be altered by a sleep disorder. In a broader organism-wide context, cardiovascular diseases, dementia, obesity, diabetes, chronic pain, depression and anxiety are clinical conditions closely related to some sleep disorders in a mutual interaction.
In the field of sleep medicine, researchers worldwide are currently assessing the impact of COVID-19 not just on sleep quality of patients with respiratory syndrome, but also on the presence of sleep disorders and related diseases in the population under lock-down and in the healthcare professionals involved in the clinical management of pandemic emergencies.
In order to achieve rapid prevention, it is important to recognize the relevance of sleep to quality of life and to identify factors that can lead to the onset of a sleep disorder. More than ever before, sleep-related problems represent not only an area of study for experimental research and of interest in the clinical field, but an emergency that needs to be managed for a ‘healthy future’.
Maria Concetta Pellicciari teaches Physiology in the Degree Courses in Medicine and Surgery, Midwifery, Biomedical Laboratory Techniques and Radiology, Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Techniques at UniCamillus.
She is also a lecturer for On-line Master’s programs at UniCamillus, which provided a wider range of courses on offer, thus ensuring a balance between life and work commitments, flexible hours and easier access to education activities.
Furthermore, UniCamillus online Master’s courses offer additional facilities, including video lectures in deffered mode, downloadable teaching materials and self-assessment tests available on the University’s online platform.