Insomnia is a leading sleep disorder among Moldovans. During ten years since its founding, the Center of Somnology of the Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery provided 4,000 consultations and 2,500 of these centered on insomnia. There are patients who resort to self-medication and worsen their state. They can cause dependence on particular drugs, university lecturer Victor Vovc, doctor habilitate of medical sciences and senior researcher of the Center of Somnology, has told IPN.

The lecturer noted that cognitive behavioral therapy is the gold standard in the treatment of insomnia. The person needs to understand what causes insomnia and to change the lifestyle. “Not everyone realizes the importance of good sleep. The persons should go to sleep before 11pm. The secretion of melatonin, which induces and maintains sleep, starts at 9pm and begins to decrease at about 3am. Cortisol, the stress hormone, is produced starting at 4am,” explained the researcher.

Sleep apnea is a masked disorder. “The persons do not even realize that they are ill. According to statistics, there are about 28,000 persons with apnea of different severity in Chisinau alone,” stated Victor Vovc.

Inga Pasechnik, manager of the Center for Health Policies and Studies, said that sleep disorders during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has represented a serious problem. The family doctors, medical specialists daily deal with patients with sleep disorders.

World Sleep Day in Moldova was marked with a scientific-practical conference that centered on topical somnology issues, such as sleep respiratory disorders and sleep disorders in children. The event was organized by the Physiology and Biophysics Department of “Nicolae Testemițanu” State University of Medicine in concert with the Center of Somnology of “Diomid Gherman” Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery.