Poor sleep increases the risk of brain disorders: Warning signs you should never ignore

Over the past decade, small awareness campaigns have grown into coordinated global efforts to spotlight attention on the brain, thanks to the medical fraternity, scientific research community, neurological societies and health bodies around the world.

Brain health could not be more relevant to how we choose to lead our lives today, as lifestyle changes directly impact our health, including the way our brain functions. One of the most important necessities for brain health is sleep.

A night of good, restful sleep helps to clear away toxins from the brain, which accumulate during wakeful hours. During deep sleep, our brains process all the events of the day and strengthen the neural pathways that help us store critical information and learn new skills.

How lack of quality sleep affects our brain

Somewhere along the way, sleep stopped being an important biological necessity and became the first thing to be sacrificed. Poor or disturbed sleep disrupts the ability of the brain to function normally, while also increasing the risk of mood disorders, stroke and dementia.

Thanks to modern lifestyles, staying awake late into the night is a foregone conclusion. Screen addiction is rampant across all age groups. Working professionals compromise on sleep to meet tight deadlines, and surprisingly even those who took pride in themselves in being ‘early to bed’ now find their evenings taken up by screens.

However, what most people fail to realise is that sleep isn’t a wellness trend or an optional extra; it’s foundational to how the brain functions and repairs itself.

When sleep is consistently disrupted, it results in health issues from high blood pressure and chronic stress to lack of movement and poor eating habits, which increase the risk of several lifestyle disorders. The risk of stroke becomes one of the most serious fallouts. India carries a heavy share of this burden already.

Stroke and other neurological disorders affect a significant portion of the population, and yet, brain health enters a conversation only after something has gone visibly wrong, usually after an emergency. People tend to spend enormous time and energy on how they look on the outside. But the organ responsible for how we think, move, speak and function rarely gets the same consideration.

What can be done?

Protecting the brain doesn’t require anything extravagant — just ordinary, repeatable habits that include a consistent sleep schedule, exercising regularly, eating foods that nourish the body, managing stress deliberately rather than absorbing it silently, and keeping blood pressure in check. Practices like meditation are not cure-alls, but they certainly help build a steady, balanced routine that brain health depends on.

Do not ignore any warning signs

Symptoms should never be waved off as ‘stress’ or ‘tiredness’. A severe headache that comes on suddenly, with unusually severe intensity, and feels genuinely different from anything experienced before warrants urgent medical evaluation, even though most headaches are generally not life-threatening.

Similarly, sudden numbness or weakness, partial face drooping, slurred or difficult speech, a sudden loss of balance, or unexplained vision changes must be evaluated on an emergency basis, as every minute delayed could cost a person their health, sometimes even life. Acting on a symptom quickly determines what the outcome will be.

For those already carrying risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, or family history of vascular disease, periodic health screening is a must.

The takeaway this World Brain Day isn’t a complicated piece of advice. Simply put, never overlook any symptom that feels out of the ordinary, even if it seems insignificant. Consult with a medical professional at the earliest. Make healthy lifestyle choices like sleeping on time and for at least seven hours every night, managing time and deadlines better, staying active with moderate exercises at least four to five days a week, eating healthy and with intention, finding ways to manage stress, keeping tabs on blood pressure, and never dismissing a warning sign.

Brain health should not be something we think about only in hindsight, because more than any other organ, the brain rarely gives a second chance to those who ignored the initial warnings. 

(The author is the President of the Indian Stroke Association, Director & Clinical Lead – Interventional Neurology Programme, and Head of Neurology, Narayana Health City, Bengaluru)

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.