Seminar

Sleep. The Cornerstones of Health

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What advice can we give based on science?

During this seminar we explored, among other things, how crucial our diet is for health and well-being and how we can improve our health status when living with chronic and inflammatory diseases; how to reduce the risk of cancer; cultivate a better gut flora and live a longer and healthier life. How can we control the correlation between our food intake and our well-being?

There is nothing as essential to our health as sleep. The brain rests during deep sleep, allowing it to replenish its energy and recover from the impressions and experiences of our waking hours. Waste products are rinsed away and cells are renewed. Stress hormones decrease while our memory and ability to concentrate are enhanced. Conversely, a prolonged lack of sleep can lead to unintended consequences, and in the long run insomnia may lead to serious health problems such as stroke and depression. None of this is new. But how much can sleep difficulties be blamed on an unhealthy lifestyle or explained by medical factors? The link between cause and effect has gradually been clarified thanks to research efforts.

Under the lead of Kerstin Brismar these questions were addressed, and we discussed the topics with leading researchers in the fields of diet and sleep.

Svenska Läkaresällskapet on 7 March, 2024.

Participants

John Axelsson

Professor, sleep researcher and research group leader at the Stress Research Institute, Stockholm Univeristy and Karolinska Institutet

Kerstin Brismar

Professor, Karolinska Institutet

Robert Caesar

Associate Professor at the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, the Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg

Jonathan Cedernaes

Medical Doctor with a PhD in medicine and associate professor in Medical Cell Biology

Susanna Jernelöv

Lecturer in Clinical Health Psychology and Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet

Ann Fernholm

Science journalist with a PhD in Molecular Biotechnology from Uppsala University

Stine Störsrud

Senior dietitian and Associate Professor at the Department of Specialist Medicine at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg

Tina Sundelin

Associate Professor in Psychology at Stockholm University

Lennart Wetterberg

Professor Emeritus, Karolinska Institutet

Torbjörn Åkerstedt

Professor Emeritus, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University