Sleep well to prevent cancer

Today, cancer has sadly become a very common disease, touching almost every family in some way. While medical treatments are advancing every day, it’s important to ask—why is cancer rising so fast? A big part of the answer lies in our lifestyle choices, and one of the most ignored factors is sleep. Most chronic diseases, inflammation, or issues, don’t just appear out of the blue. They usually stem from poor lifestyle habits built over years—bad food choices, chronic stress, lack of movement, and crucially, sleep deprivation. Emerging studies in medical science show a strong connection between lack of sleep and the development of various cancers.

Our bodies are controlled by something called the circadian rhythm—a natural internal clock that runs in 24-hour cycles. This rhythm controls over 1,000 different functions in the body, from digestion, cleansing, and hormone release to temperature control and, most importantly, cell repair, growth, and division. When everything runs smoothly, damaged cells repair themselves or self-destruct through a natural process called apoptosis. This prevents faulty cells from multiplying and forming tumours. However, when the circadian rhythm is disturbed—mostly because of poor sleep—this system breaks down. Faulty cells may continue to divide uncontrollably, setting the stage for cancer.

Studies show a strong connection between lack of sleep and the development of various cancers

One of the body’s strongest natural defences against cancer is a hormone called melatonin. It is produced in large amounts when the sun sets, signalling your body to prepare for sleep. Melatonin doesn’t just help you fall asleep—it acts as a powerful anti-cancer hormone. It helps the body to:

• Regulate healthy cell division and repair

• Balance hormones or lower harmful levels of certain hormones like estrogen

• Reduce inflammation

• Communicate with other hormones to maintain equilibrium in the body

When you consistently deprive yourself of sleep, melatonin production drops dramatically, weakening one of your body’s key defences. Another shocking fact: Sleep deprivation leads to a 70 per cent drop in Natural Killer (N-Killer) cells. These are the body’s “soldiers” that detect and destroy cancer cells early, even before they form noticeable tumours. Think about it: you could be eating organic foods, undergoing the best treatments, but if your natural killer cells aren’t active due to poor sleep, your body can’t fight cancer the way it’s designed to. Chronic sleep deprivation lowers your overall immunity by 70 per cent, making you extremely vulnerable not just to cancer, but also to infections, inflammations, and other diseases. Instead of focusing only on finding better drugs to fight disease after it arrives, we need to focus more on preventing disease in the first place. And sleep plays a huge role in this prevention. Immunity grows and repairs itself only while you sleep— not while you’re eating expensive superfoods, not during medical treatments, not during the day when you’re awake. Deep and sound sleep is when the real healing happens. That’s why if you or your loved one is currently fighting cancer, working on improving sleep must be a key part of the healing journey. Sleep harnesses the intelligence of the body to repair and rebuild. But even if you’re healthy today, don’t wait for a diagnosis to start caring about your sleep. Start now with the few basic tips:

• Aim to sleep and wake up at the same time at least five-six days a week to fix a circadian rhythm.

• Respect your body’s biological clock. Your cells are designed to follow natural rhythms, not random late nights on a regular basis.

• Reduce blue light exposure before bed. Constantly looking at your phone or laptop tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime, disrupting melatonin production. Stay away from your gadget at least for 45 minutes to one hour before bedtime, or use special blue-light blocking glasses.

• Drink a cup of warm chamomile tea or blue pea tea with a pinch of nutmeg powder at bedtime to relax at bedtime.

• Don’t blame everything on pollution, genetics, or bad luck. Look at your lifestyle—it matters more than you think — and try to fix the same.

Good sleep is free, natural, and powerful. Make it your priority.