Sleep: the Fourth Pillar of Health

A balanced diet, moderate physical activity and emotional wellbeing are solidly established tenets for a healthy lifestyle in Western societies. However, an overwhelming body of scientific research supports the notion that quality sleep must be considered the fourth pillar of a healthy life. Sleep is an essential part of a person's daily routine, enabling body and mind to recover and function optimally. Sleep consolidates memory, regulates mood, reduces anxiety and modulates other pathologies. Research has shown a negative association between low-quality sleep and happiness, personal and professional performance and worsening outcomes in concomitant diseases, yet there is a lack of awareness of its importance among the population.

An initiative of Biocat and "la Caixa" Foundation, this B·DEBATE is organized by the Global Observatory for Healthy Sleep, the Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida and AdSalutem Institute, and seeks to promote an open discussion between researchers, clinicians, social and cultural leaders and organizations, business and unions representatives, politicians and media, to raise awareness on the importance of quality sleep in health and disease. To accomplish this goal, this B·DEBATE will address pressing questions on sleep research and its impact on society. These include the use of big data and wearable technologies in sleep research, monitoring and policy making, the emerging role of informed patients in diagnosis and decision making, the multifaceted impact of sleep in productivity and economics, the important role of sleep as a comorbid condition in multiple diseases and the importance of sleep in understudied and vulnerable populations, such as infants and the elderly. The debate will close with a summary session on "Sleep for healthy ageing" assessing how research, analysis, training and dissemination initiatives can be leveraged to effect sociopolitical changes on the perception of quality sleep and sleep-related disorders.

Registration closes on October 15. Register here!
Deadline to submit an abstract to be selected for a poster presentation: September 16.