WITH THE new academic year underway, students beware: having several sleepless nights may reduce learning capacity and lead to long-term health issues, a Thomasian sleep specialist said.
Dr. Patrick Moral, head of the UST Hospital’s Sleep and Snore Diagnostic and Treatment Unit, said sleep-deprived students are more prone to poor memory retention.
“Their academic performance may be diminished,” Moral told the Varsitarian. “The ability to pay attention and absorb new learning will also be impaired.”
Moral said many factors can disrupt a student’s sleep quality, especially lifestyle habits that keep people awake longer and cut into rest.
“We now live in an era where everything is accessible by the cellphone as well as other devices, so you can be active 24/7,” he said. “Even after school, you may still be online either studying or playing games.”
He added that prolonged screen time affects the body’s circadian rhythm. Among young people, this can worsen “delayed sleep phase syndrome,” a sleep condition where a person falls asleep and wakes up much later than normal.
“The younger you are, it may be difficult sometimes for you to come to class early because you have delayed sleep phase syndrome,” he said. “You tend to wake up much later, or you’ll be sleepy, or you will probably need an alarm to wake you up.”
At UST, some classes begin as early as 7 a.m., and others end as late as 9 p.m. Moral acknowledged that managing proper sleep hours can be tough for students amid academic demands and long commutes.
“Sometimes you have up to four exams the following day, so the sleep duration itself is limited,” he said. “And understandably, if your sleep duration is limited, it will cause you to have more likely somnolence or sleepiness during the following day.”
A 2023 study featured in Nature Human Behaviour found that university students with 8 a.m. classes got almost an hour less sleep, showed up to class less frequently, and received poorer grades than peers who had classes starting later.
“And we have students who take two to three hours to get home after class, and then they need another two to three hours to get back to school the following day,” Moral added.
In some cases, sleep issues may not just be from stress or schedule but from undiagnosed medical problems. Moral pointed to obstructive sleep apnea, a condition commonly tied to obesity, as a frequent but often overlooked cause of poor sleep.
He added that consistent sleep deprivation could lead to long-term health problems, including insomnia and cardiovascular disease, and even an increased risk of early death.
“Some studies have shown that if you sleep less than five hours chronically or you sleep more than nine hours, your mortality risk increases,” he said.
Despite these risks, the Philippines lacks a formal system for screening or managing sleep disorders. According to Moral, this gap in healthcare access often pushes individuals to self-diagnose or turn to over-the-counter sleep aids without proper medical advice.
“We need to have a good analysis of your sleep habits to at least improve them, and then, if necessary, prescribe medications or interventions,” he said.
While Moral acknowledged that adjusting school schedules may help alleviate sleep loss, particularly for students who endure long commutes or juggle part-time work, he stressed that good sleep habits must begin at the individual level.
“That’s why if you look at some of the pillars of health, sleep is there,” he said. “That means it’s a time where you recharge.” Marigela Isabel R. Cirio, M. D. Santos
