South Asians Aren’t Sleeping Well. It’s Killing Us.

During Dr. Saema Tahir’s residency, she began indulging in a bad habit that’s long been glorified in medicine and by fellow South Asians: forgoing sleep. With night shifts, “I’d be..only sleeping two hours a night,” she told The Juggernaut. At one point, she hallucinated someone preparing food in a kitchen while she was actually in the ICU, and later had a major fight with a friend. “I was losing my mind,” she admitted. “I learned who I was when I didn’t sleep, and I did not like that person.” 

The experience led her to shift her speciality from lungs to sleep. Yes, South Asians are succeeding professionally. But they also might be killing themselves in the process. Countless studies show that the community has some of the highest rates of diabetes, heart disease, and metabolic dysfunction. Now, researchers are starting to wonder if too little and poor sleep might be the missing puzzle piece. The Juggernaut spoke to some of the world’s leading sleep researchers and doctors to find out.