136: How sleep, and sleep loss, can impact your health

We all feel better when we've had a good nights sleep, right? However, many people are finding it harder than ever to sleep, especially due to stress and anxiety which has been heightened due to the pandemic. The number of people suffering from sleep loss due to stress has risen from one in six to one in four, how is this sleep loss impacting physical and mental health? Joining us today to delve into the subject are Alanna Hare, Consultant in Sleep and Ventilation, Royal Brompton Hospitals Trust and Dr Neil Stanley, Director of Sleep Science at Sleepstation.org.uk. They'll explain the role sleep plays in our overall health, the impact of the pandemic and the latest developments in our understanding of how to improve sleep. About our panel Alanna Hare, Consultant in Sleep and Ventilation, Royal Brompton Hospitals Trust Dr Alanna Hare is a consultant in sleep and ventilation at Royal Brompton Hospital with responsibility for specialist clinics in sleep disorders and domiciliary ventilation Dr Neil Stanley, Director of Sleep Science at Sleepstation.org.uk Dr Neil Stanley is Director of Sleep Science at Sleepstation.org.uk. He has been involved in sleep research for 39 years starting his career at the Neurosciences Division of the R.A.F. Institute of Aviation Medicine. In the early 1990s, he moved to the Human Psychopharmacology Research Unit, part of the University of Surrey, where as Director of Sleep Research he created and ran a 24-bed sleep laboratory for clinical trials. He is past Chairman of the British Sleep Society (2000-2004) and a member of the European Sleep Research Society; the American Academy of Sleep. He has published 38 peer-review papers on various aspects of sleep research and psychopharmacology and is widely quoted by the media as a sleep expert.