A Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Motunrayo Oyelohunnu, has disclosed that the use of phones before sleep could affect the mental state of an individual.
She revealed this during a panel discussion at the 2nd International Lifestyle Medicine Conference organised by the Society of Lifestyle Medicine of Nigeria (SOLONg), in Abuja.
According to her, studies had shown that day time sleep should not be more than 20 minutes while good restorative night time sleep should be eight hours, as stipulated by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
On her part, a Family Health Physician, Dr Adaeze Ifezulike, revealed that lifestyle medicine is a game changer to keep fit and reverse the rise of non-communicable diseases in developing countries.
“Lifestyle medicine is an evidence-based medicine where professionals used simple lifestyle therapeutic approaches to prevent, treat and often times reverse the cause of life time chronic illnesses,” she explained.
She said that physical activity such as regular exercises is capable of preventing almost all diseases, especially non-communicable ones.
She noted that it also reduce the risk of breast and colon cancers as well as Type 2 diabetes.
On his part, a member of SOLONg, Dr Moyosore Makinde, disclosed good sleep was key to overall well-being.
“Sleep deficiency is a trigger for most diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers and hypertension.
“Statistics has shown that those who have poor sleep at night are more likely to eat more calories in a day,” he said.
He warned that while sleeping, some hormones burn calories in the body but in absence of sleep, these calories were retained in the body leading to weight gain and obesity.
Earlier, at a media briefing, President of SOLONg, Dr Ifeoma Monye, advised Nigerians to engage in physical activities, have restorative night time sleep, involve in social support and avoid taking harmful substances as well as go for regular medical check-up.
According to her: “We are talking about illnesses such as hypertension, illnesses, type 2 Diabetes, certain cancers and all these illness that plague us.
“We know that before now, we have been dealing with just communicable diseases in Africa but now it is crippling on us that some people are dropping death with heart attack, something that was very rare in this clime.’’
Monye who is a Chief Consultant Family Physician, called on Nigerians to eat more plant-based foods, vegetables and fruits.
She stressed that: “We want people to have adequate restorative sleep, we want people to love more, connect more with your community; we say people should avoid the use of tobacco, alcohol and other harmful substances.”
