Staying up late affects physical and mental health; Dr Naila Saad

NT Burau

DOHA: During the holy month of Ramadan, many people suffer from sleep disorders and this causes health problems, Dr Naila Darwish Saad, Director of Umm Salal Health Center and Senior Consultant in Family Medicine at the Primary Health Care Corporation, has said.

Due to the inability to go back to sleep early, many people continue to stay up late, and this is a common habit that is harmful to health and carries with it many physical, psychological and social harms, Dr Naila has said in an interview with Al Raya Arabic daily.

“Sleeping at night is linked to the secretion of the hormone called melatonin, which increases in darkness and decreases in the presence of daylight. Therefore, when we stay up for a long time and the number of hours of sleep at night decreases, this affects the secretion of this hormone to a sufficient extent, which negatively affects the regularity of the biological clock, the regularity of body temperature, the balance of fluids within the body, and the feeling of hunger and fullness,” she said.

“Therefore, staying up late and lack of sleep are considered dangerous habits that cause several physical and psychological harms, as lack of sleep can negatively affect performance at work or study, which leads to a lack of productivity, lack of effective performance and an increase in the rate of making mistakes, as staying up late increases problems.”

Dr Naila also said sleep deprivation causes lack of concentration and memory, affecting the ability to make correct decisions, and the inability to think, which leads to lack of comprehension, lack of understanding of information and learning difficulties. In addition, staying up late may lead to loss of concentration, which increases the possibility of mistakes and unintended accidents.