Idowu Abdullahi
Doctors in the field of mental health have said some lifestyle habits may lead to sleeplessness, revealing that people who do not sleep adequately at night are at risk of stroke, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases.
The physicians explained that while sleeplessness may be caused by other factors, including trouble with the mind, anxiety, and worries, there are common lifestyle habits that contribute to poor sleep quality.
The experts revealed that lifestyle habits, including eating kola nuts and chocolate and using products containing kola nuts, could lead to sleeplessness or problems falling or staying asleep.
The experts explained that the caffeine content in kola nuts, chocolate, and coffee may stimulate the nervous system and impact people’s sleeping patterns.
The kola nut is a cultural staple in many West African countries, prized for its effects as a central nervous system stimulant. In West Africa, many people chew them daily for a dose of caffeine. Each nut contains more caffeine than two large cups of American coffee, according to healthline.com.
Kola extract is a common food flavouring found in Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and now many popular energy drinks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration listed kola nuts as generally safe for human consumption. Kola nut extract is classified as a natural food flavouring.
The FDA has also approved kola extract as an inactive ingredient in certain pharmaceuticals.
But, while kola nuts are generally safe, the caffeine content of kola nuts, its supplements, and kola-containing energy drinks are worrisome.
Kola nuts are possibly unsafe when used in large amounts or long term. Chewing kola nuts is linked to an increased risk of mouth cancer and stomach cancer.
Consuming large amounts of cola nuts might also cause side effects due to its caffeine content. These side effects can range from mild to serious and include headache, irregular heartbeat, and sleeplessness.
The other possible side effects of kola nuts include increased blood pressure, sleeping difficulty, shakiness, and nausea, according to a website, medicalnewstoday.com.
According to a health website, Cleveland Clinic, sleeplessness or insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or both, even if you have ample time and a bedroom environment conducive to having a restful sleep.
Cleveland Clinic listed the symptoms of insomnia to include dreariness during the day, lagged responses, and trouble concentrating or struggling to remember things, among others.
But speaking in an interview with PUNCH Healthwise, the President, Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria, Prof Taiwo Obindo, said several conditions could lead to people having difficulty with sleep.
According to him, sleeplessness may be a consequence of a troubled mind, unresolved issues, conflict, anxiety or worry, unmet needs, and some other frank mental health conditions.
The professor of psychiatry at the University of Jos, Plateau State, explained that sleeplessness, also known as insomnia, varies depending on the situation of the individual battling with it.
He said while grief, anxiety disorders, depression, and some chronic mental health conditions could lead to sleeplessness, some lifestyle habits could also make individuals struggle with sleep.
The don also explained that poor exercise habits and eating late at night may disrupt sleep quality, adding even when such sleep is initiated, the individual may wake up unrefreshed.
“Some of the habits that contribute to poor sleep quality include taking caffeine like in coffee which puts the person on edge and impacts sleep quality. Eating kola nuts and chocolate may also cause this because they (kola nuts and chocolates) still contain some degree of caffeine and may affect individual sleep,” the psychiatrists association president said.
Furthermore, the don explained that the abuse of sleeping pills may lead to difficulty for an individual to initiate sleep naturally.
“Some people are getting used to pills because they’ve been having problems with sleep and they become dependent on sleeping tablets and begin to struggle with natural sleep. Also, people who do not exercise may have difficulty with sleep.
“It is expected that people should eat early and some people when they eat late, this put pressure on some parts of their bodies and affects their sleep and even when they sleep, they wake up unrefreshed,” the honorary consultant psychiatrist at the Jos University Teaching Hospital said.
Also speaking, a specialist in psychiatry at Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, Dr. Samuel
, said major mental health conditions have sleeplessness as a component of their symptomatology.
He noted that while there are mental health conditions that could cause sleeplessness, there are also general medical conditions that could affect people’s sleeping quality.
The expert listed the general conditions to include hypertension, high blood pressure, complications of diabetes, headaches, and environmental factors.
“Quite several mental psychiatric conditions have sleeplessness as a major component of their syndrome. Depression, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic disorder, among others, have sleeplessness as a major component of their symptomatology.
“Also, there are general medical conditions that could also affect sleep. For instance, in hypertension, a situation where the blood pressure is high and poorly controlled, the person could struggle to sleep, and the same thing with complications of diabetes, the person could struggle with sleep.
“ People battling headaches and other general medical conditions might have a problem with sleeping. Aside from medical conditions, unfavourable environmental conditions might cause sleeplessness.
“If there is a lot of noise in your sleeping environment, the temperature is not well controlled either it is very hot or cold, there are mosquitoes around, the mattress is not conducive for sleeping and so on, you may struggle with sleep.
“Sometimes, poor sleep quality is not necessarily because of what is going on within you, it might be as a result of what is going on around you,” Aladejare said.
Aladejare also attributed sleeplessness to some habits, which include drinking, substance use, a sedentary lifestyle, and using smart gadgets at night. According to him, people working shifts at night may also struggle with sleep.
He said, “Some of the habits that could contribute to poor sleep include drinking a lot, substance use, and a sedentary lifestyle. Generally, our body expects us to have some level of stress which is normal and adequate for the body. So, when your day is devoid of such stress where there are no physical activities or mental activities that could task the brain to make it feel like you’ve worked, you may struggle to sleep because your body may just feel like you’ve not done enough for that day to be able to sleep.
“Some people use their phones, laptops, and other gadgets in dark corners of their bedrooms, and the blue light from those devices usually affects people’s ability to sleep. People who are shift workers, like those working in hotels, medical personnel, people in aviation, air hostesses, and those who travel frequently across time zones may struggle with sleep.”
Meanwhile, a Somnologist, Laura Williams, told PUNCH Healthwise that sleeplessness at night remains a major risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases.
Somnology is the science and research of sleep, while a somnologist is a sleep doctor who specializes in disorders and irregularities related to sleep.
According to her, interrupted sleep may cause problems with the body’s capacity to control metabolism, blood pressure, and inflammation, all of which are risk factors for stroke.
Laura said, “Poor sleep can prevent the normal lowering of blood pressure that occurs while you sleep at night and result in hypertension, a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
“Another population-based study found a connection between poor sleep quality and diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and dementia.”
The sleep expert, however, advised people battling sleeplessness at night to embrace a balanced diet, regular exercise, and maintain excellent sleep hygiene.
“With a balanced diet, consistent exercise, and excellent sleep hygiene, you may lessen the harmful effects of sleep interruptions as well as your risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease.
“What I always tell people is that getting about seven hours of uninterrupted sleep each night is associated with having the least amount of cardiovascular disease.”
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