Arezu Najafi is an Assistant Professor of Sleep Medicine at Tehran University Medical Sciences, a practicing clinician, researcher, previous mentee of the International Sleep Research Training (ISRTP) program, faculty of the World Sleep Academy, and World Sleep member of the global sleep health task force. She has been practicing sleep medicine for 10 years.
How did you become interested in the field of sleep medicine?
Many things led me to the field of sleep medicine. During my occupational medicine residency, my supervisor was a doctor of sleep medicine. This opened the door to the sleep field. As the sleep clinic was near the occupational medicine clinic, I would often go there to meet patients or read sleep tests.
I had several patients with sleep problems. At the time I didn’t realize that sleep had its medical field. I wondered about what could cause sleep problems, this piqued my interest in sleep medicine.
Also, I love to sleep! I am interested in the mechanics of sleep, and how to get more energized and refreshed. Seeking the details about sleep and sleep health made me more interested in the field.
Why is global sleep health important to you?
I started a collaboration with the World Sleep Society in 2020 as a mentee in the International Sleep Research Training Program, (ISRTP) with Dr. Pack. Through this experience, I met a lot of colleagues in the field of sleep medicine. Many are international experts with sleep medicine focus and interest. I realized the approaches to sleep management and sleep health are different across the globe. For example, there are different approaches to sleep apnea across the globe. In some areas, it is covered by insurance, but not in others.
I was giving a lecture to the ISRTP group about the World Health Organization (WHO) programs on sleep across the globe. It made me realize sleep medicine is very different in different countries, especially in underserved areas. We published a paper in the Lancet Public Health on this topic, and after that, I wanted to work harder to overcome sleep health inequalities globally.
What is one thing you would like people to know about global sleep health?
Sleep health is very diverse and unequal across the globe. Sleep and circadian health are as important as nutrition, physical activity, and other aspects of health. We spend about 1/3 of our lives sleeping, so we should be careful about sleep and sleep health. We need to pay attention to it.
In some parts of the world, people care about sleep health and its effect on cardiovascular health, metabolic health, daily performance, and the impact on accident risk. But everyone, everywhere needs to know more about sleep health and the related risks and benefits. When people know more about sleep and sleep disorders, they will be able to seek medical care and ask for services, and knowledge from experts in the field. Ideally, people would know as much about sleep health as they do about other non-communicable diseases such as hypertension.
What are you most excited about?
What we do and don’t know about sleep. Sleep is a dynamic process of the body. In the beginning, I didn’t know about sleep. I thought sleep might be related to the psychiatric field, however, I now know that it is dynamic and touches many processes in the body. We have learned a lot about sleep, but there is still a lot to learn. We need to get people interested in sleep.
Is there anything else you would like to add about your work with global sleep health?
When I started in 2016, sleep medicine was a very new and interesting field. However, the turning point in my academic career was my association with the World Sleep Society and acceptance to ISRTP. Through this, I met experts at the international level. It opened a new window of sleep medicine that I didn’t know about. It was like new glasses. I was able to see gaps and diversity and how people around the world think differently and see different things about sleep. Working on an international level helped me to see sleep medicine problems and successes differently. When you talk to people from around the globe, you can see problems from different aspects and possibly change your opinion about the problem or find a solution.