The doctor named the reasons for excessive daytime sleepiness

Excessive daytime sleepiness is not just a consequence of lack of sleep or a boring day, but an alarming signal that the body gives when something goes wrong. Many people attribute constant fatigue to stress, the weather, or workload at work, but a regular desire to sleep during the day can be a sign of serious health problems. Ekaterina Demyanovskaya, a neurologist, Candidate of medical Sciences, and expert at the Hemotest laboratory, told Izvestia about this on November 5.

Normal daytime sleepiness occurs only in conditions of short-term overwork or after a sleepless night.

"If a person falls asleep on the move and feels sleepy even after a full night's rest, this is a reason to be wary. Normally, daytime fatigue passes quickly, but if it persists for weeks, it prevents you from doing your usual things, you need to look for the cause," the specialist notes.

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One of the most common causes of daytime sleepiness is sleep—related breathing disorders, the so-called obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. With it, a person stops breathing for several seconds or even minutes, and the brain does not receive enough oxygen.

"Due to constant micro-awakenings, brain activity is stimulated, which prevents the onset of deep sleep. As a result, in the morning a person feels as if he did not rest at all, and in the afternoon he literally turns off from fatigue," explains Demyanovskaya.

Sometimes daytime sleepiness indicates hormonal or metabolic disorders. For example, with hypothyroidism (decreased thyroid function), the metabolism slows down and the body seems to switch to economy mode.

Similar symptoms can be observed in diabetes mellitus, anemia, chronic inflammatory processes or hypovitaminosis, for example D. When cells don't get enough energy, the brain reacts the same way it does when you don't get enough sleep — it requires rest.

Do not forget about the psycho-emotional factors. Prolonged anxiety, asthenia, and depression are often accompanied by constant drowsiness, decreased concentration, and apathy.

"The body goes into hibernation to protect itself from overload. This is not laziness or weakness, but a physiological reaction to chronic stress or a short—term but powerful stressful effect," the specialist emphasizes.

According to the doctor, the danger of excessive daytime sleepiness lies not only in decreased performance, but also in health risks. Such people are more likely to get into accidents, get domestic injuries, and make mistakes at work. But most importantly, this may be the first sign of serious sleep disorders, heart function, metabolism, or a psychoemotional condition.

The doctor advises not to ignore the problem and, with constant daytime sleepiness and sufficient nighttime sleep, consult a therapist or somnologist. The specialist will conduct an examination, rule out organic and endocrine diseases, and, if necessary, refer you to your colleagues-endocrinologists, neurologists, prescribe tests and a special sleep study — polysomnography.

"The main thing is not to get used to the constant feeling of fatigue and not to consider unusual daytime sleepiness as the norm. The body always gives signals if it feels bad. You need to not just drink more coffee, but understand why you want to sleep during the day, if you slept enough at night, it would seem," the doctor summarizes.

On October 4, Abigail Dove, a researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Social Sciences and Public Health at the Karolinska Institute, who led the study, spoke about the dependence of the aging process of the brain on sleep quality. She also suggested that due to the ability to modify sleep, it may be possible to prevent accelerated aging of the brain and even a decrease in its cognitive functions.

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