By Anja Opitz
Most people know how bad you feel when you haven’t had enough sleep for two or three nights: not good, but you can somehow put it down. In the case of a sleep disorder, the situation is quite different, it can have serious health consequences.
For cancer patients who often suffer from sleep problems, this can even influence the success of the therapy.
Around two thirds of all cancer patients suffer from illness or therapy-related sleep disorders. “Among other things, our studies have shown that every third long-term cancer patient suffers from severe sleep disorders, even though they have survived the cancer for more than five years,” explains Prof. Dr. Sehouli (54), Director of the Clinic for Gynecology with Center for Oncological Surgery at the Charité.
It is still unclear whether these sleep disorders are a direct consequence of the cancer or an additional phenomenon. But the fact is: “Cancer and sleep disorders often occur in parallel – but the extent to which they influence each other has not yet been scientifically investigated. We want to change that now!”
Prof. Dr. Jalid Sehouli is director of the gynecology clinic at the Charité Photo: Stefanie Herbst
The women’s clinic of the Charité is conducting a long-term study in cooperation with the sleep medicine center to examine the connections between sleep and cancer and cancer therapy.
“A central question is: do patients with insomnia have a poorer prognosis in terms of life expectancy? Because there are concrete indications of this,” says Sehouli. “If that’s the case, then it opens up completely new possibilities! We can’t prevent the tumor stage – we can prevent the sleep disorder!” According to the current medical guidelines with cognitive behavioral therapy, possibly short-term in combination with medication.
“By treating the symptom early, we could increase the life expectancy of cancer patients!”
Interested patients can present themselves at the Charité: Clinic for gynecology with center for oncological surgery, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Augustenburger Platz 1, ☎450 564 002