How to sleep better? Interview with Dr. Estivill
Table of Contents
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Sleep Clinic
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What happens during a visit?
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Who is Doctor Estivill?
Eduard Estivill is a well-known doctor and sleep medicine specialist. Born in Barcelona, he became interested in studying medicine and surgery at the University of Barcelona. He specialized in Clinical Neurophysiology, Pediatrics, and Sleep Medicine. He is the founder of the Sleep Clinic.
Sleep Clinic
The Sleep Clinic is one of Doctor Estivill's greatest achievements. “It is a medical service where we practice what we call sleep medicine” (Estivill. 2019). This center assists patients who experience sleep problems, in order to identify the cause and find a solution to their sleep issues.
As Doctor Estivill has rightly pointed out, it is a very important service for improving the most important activity in our lives: sleep. This is because sleep regenerates our alertness and our minds.
What happens during a visit?
When a patient comes in with a sleep problem, they are asked a series of medical questions, and additional tests are ordered to reach a correct diagnosis.
If snoring is suspected, for example, a sleep test is ordered to check for apnea. If the problem is insomnia, blood tests are also ordered to determine if there is a medical cause causing the insomnia.
Therefore, the sleep clinic is a medical service where tests are performed to make a diagnosis and apply the correct treatment.
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How to sleep better? Doctor Estivill answers
Morfeo: Doctor, why is sleeping well so important in our lives?
Doctor Estivill: Sleeping is important because sleep promotes tissue regeneration and the restoration of all our systems: both immune and metabolic. There is also a psychological restoration; while we sleep, our memories are synthesized and organized.
During sleep, our body functions as a repair and restoration workshop.
Therefore, sleep is the most important vital function for living a healthy life and being able to wake up feeling good the next day.
Morfeo: What types of sleep disorders are most common? What do you advise us?
Doctor Estivill: The most frequent disorders are of three types:
- People who cannot sleep: Insomniacs. There are more than 40 causes of poor sleep. At the clinic, we conduct a medical consultation to try to determine the cause of the insomnia.
- People who cannot fall asleep: Those who perform certain actions during the night, such as talking, sleepwalking, walking around, etc. All of these are sleep disorders that prevent proper rest.
- People who sleep too much: Those who do not sleep well, sleep very little, or whose sleep quality is not right, and who are tired all day. For example: people who have apnea, restless legs syndrome (a feeling of restlessness in the legs).
There are many conditions that can deprive us of a good night's rest. My advice is that if you have any of these conditions, you should consult a sleep unit.
Morfeo: There is a lot of talk about how many hours we need to sleep each day for it to be healthy. Is it the same for everyone, or are there exceptions that are also considered acceptable?
Doctor Estivill: To determine how many hours we need to sleep, we must understand that sleep is a repair and restoration workshop. We replenish what we use up during the day during the night. Everything we learn during the day is synthesized, stored, and organized in our memory while we sleep. Understanding that sleep is a workshop, the number of hours of sleep depends somewhat on age:
- A 5-7 year old child, who is very active and learns a lot, needs to sleep at least 11 hours.
- A teenager who remains very active and continues learning during the day needs 9 hours of sleep. This is very important: teenagers need 9 hours of sleep, and most do not get them.
- Adults need about 8 hours of sleep. Only around 5% get enough sleep with 6 hours. But be careful: 6 hours every day, every week, etc.; you cannot say you'll sleep 6 hours on Monday and catch up on Saturday. This is impossible; no one can sleep like that for just one day and catch up on the weekend. Why? Because we eat when we are hungry and sleep so we can be awake. The other 5% sleep 9-10 hours, but they are very few, as the vast majority sleep 8 hours.
- From age 65 onwards you need to sleep less at night, about 6-7 hours, which can be supplemented during the day with two 10-15 minute naps, which are very good for body restoration.
Morfeo: What sleeping positions do you recommend most to promote sleep?
Doctor Estivill: The best sleeping position depends a lot on the person, but above all, it is important to understand that sleeping on your back is the least recommended. When all the muscles relax, which is normal during sleep, we sleep flat on our backs.
When you do this, your jaw and especially your tongue fall backward, which can cause snoring. This is much more evident when there is excess weight or when people have a very recessed lower chin.
Therefore, sleeping on your back would be the least healthy position. In contrast, sleeping on your side or stomach (more like half-on-your-stomach, since we are never completely on our stomachs) would be correct. For those who have doubts about sleeping on their stomach, the rib cage can perfectly support our weight while we sleep.
Morfeo: Finally, if we notice that we are starting to rest poorly, what do you recommend we do to find out what is wrong?
Doctor Estivill: When we notice that we do not feel well during the day, which is the way to know if we have slept too little or poorly… We need to find out or check what symptoms we have. For example, if we start feeling drowsy in the morning, irritable, unable to concentrate, lose our memory, etc.
All of these are symptoms of poor sleep. So, what you basically need to do is seek a medical consultation and, above all, a sleep unit, where these problems can be addressed.
It has been an honor for us that Doctor Eduard Estivill was able to spare a few minutes to answer and advise us on one of our greatest concerns: a good night's rest. We hope to be able to count on your opinion and wisdom regarding sleep science again. It was a pleasure!
Information source: Podcast from Sueña con Morfeo interview with Sleep Doctor Estivill
