CUF Azores Hospital, in Lagoa on São Miguel Island, announced on Tuesday, October 28, the creation of a Sleep Unit.

According to a press release sent to our newspaper, the new unit aims to ensure a response “focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of sleep disorders.”

According to the Portuguese Society of Pulmonology, more than half of the Portuguese population admits to not sleeping well, which, according to Tiago Sá, a pulmonologist specializing in sleep medicine and coordinator of the Sleep Unit at CUF Azores Hospital, “reveals the scale and importance of this public health problem, often associated with other comorbidities, such as heart disease, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, psychiatric conditions, and obesity.”

The creation of the Sleep Unit enables multidisciplinary monitoring that connects specialties, promoting a response tailored to each person: “There is now a dedicated and coordinated team that jointly defines the most appropriate therapeutic decision for each case, making treatment faster, more effective, and more personalized.”

The new unit has technical rooms for diagnostic tests, state-of-the-art technology, and dedicated consultations, integrating specialists in Maxillofacial Surgery, Endocrinology, Dentistry, Neurology, Nutrition, Otorhinolaryngology, Pulmonology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychiatry for the diagnosis and integrated treatment of various pathologies. Its activities cover sleep-related breathing disorders, including obstructive and central sleep apnea, as well as insomnia, hypersomnia, and sleep-related movement disorders, such as restless legs syndrome, parasomnias, and circadian rhythm disorders.

“All these conditions affect not only nighttime rest, but also physical and mental health and quality of life,” warns the coordinator of the Sleep Unit at Hospital CUF Açores, advising that “in the presence of symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue, or intense snoring, accompanied or not by nocturnal breathing pauses, specialized help should be sought.”

With this new healthcare response, Hospital CUF Açores reinforces its commitment to differentiated, specialized, and accessible healthcare, providing the Azorean population with a reference unit that contributes to improving well-being, nighttime rest, and quality of life.

In Diário da Lagoa-Clife Botelho, director

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.