Named as the best sleep tracker with sleep reports by Sleep Foundation, Sleepon Go2Sleep is best for you if want in-depth health and sleep data, if you’re looking for a ring-style tracker, or if you’re a value seeker to understand your sleep patterns.

Sleepon Go2Sleep is a wearable silicone ring that weighs only 6 grams; it alerts you of abnormal heart and oxygen levels; and it provides you with data that includes ten different metrics.

Besides the highlights, let’s look at what Sleepon Go2Sleep can offer:

Next-gen sleep management

Sleepon Go2Sleep has a combination of objective and subjective assessment.

Objective (Contact home sleep test device) and subjective (i.e., electronic sleep diary, PSQI questionnaires) measurements are combined in SLEEPON to build a comprehensive sleep assessment method.

Sampling every second without missing any respiratory event

Sleepon Go2Sleep tests your breathing problem with automatic data processing.

Single-night Sleep events may affect the accuracy of measurement. Multi-night studies will be more helpful to understand natural variations in breathing problems over time and responses to therapy.

It also has vibrating feedback in case of low blood oxygen.

It can monitor your heart rate and blood oxygen in real time at 50Hz/s and records your complete sleep cycle.

Informative and coherent report

Instead of just stating the facts or stacking tons of data, Sleepon classified and stored sleep indicators in different labels, and provided detailed interpretation, trends, healthy range and extended reading so that you can understand your sleep without specialist assistant.

Sleep diary feature

Sleepon Go2Sleep replaces paper sleep diary, revises memory bias, and automatically processes and analyzes data. Therefore, you won’t have to write things down like before while you’re tracking your sleep.

Minute-by-minute sleep reports

Minute-by-minute data gives you more meticulous and detailed sleep conditions. And the reports can be exported in CSV format and have formed reports in A4 layout.

Reports can be exported to PC

Data can be exported to Excel files or just viewed with Sleepon view so that you can get coaching assistance.

Daily, weekly and monthly sleep reports

Observe the changes in your sleep quality directly from the calendar to get a complete assessment of your sleep.

Data Calendar

A more visual view of the changes in your sleep quality from the calendar.

Monitor your family’s sleep conditions

You can simply add the function of contacting friends and family, you can view the sleep analysis of your family at any time.

Eco-friendly packaging

If you care about the environment, you can always choose Sleepon because the packaging has passed the environmental assessment index and dropped reliability test.

Overview of Sleepon Go2Sleep

Overall, Sleepon Go2Sleep offers a wide range of data at its price point ($89 for sale). The information it provides is significantly important to you if you would like to learn more about your sleep and overall health.

The tracker itself is silicon ring that can sync with your phone to give you a comprehensive data report along with its accompanying mobile app. To use it is very simple, you just have to sync the ring with your phone and it monitors all the health metrics automatically when you’re sleeping at night.

Clearly, besides sleep duration and quality, Sleepon Go2Sleep tracks your heart rate, blood oxygen level, sleep stage status, AHI, HRV and more. It even alerts you if it sense your blood oxgen level isn’t normal. The tracker’s alarm clock uses your sleep patterns to wake you up in the morning.

 Sleepon Go2Sleep is available to Apple, Android, Windows, and Mac users and can sync with iOS health app if you you’re an iPhone user. The app also allows you to track your habits that may be impacting your sleep duration and quality at night.

Sleepon Go2Sleep ring needs regular charging and all charging accessories are included.

After you purchase the product, you have 30 days for returns and exchanges or you can request for a full refund. More importantly, the tracker has a 1-year warranty to give you ease if it’s broken or stops working by any change.

During sleep, our bodies release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air. This gas helps keep our lungs clear by making the mucus that lines them thicker. As CO2 builds up in the body, it causes the blood vessels to constrict, which lowers the amount of oxygen available to cells.

How Much Oxygen is in Our Bodies?

We need oxygen to live. It’s an essential component of our bodies. And yet, we only use about 5% of the oxygen that enters our lungs each day. This means that 95% of the air we inhale goes unused.

In addition, the amount of oxygen in our body depends on several factors, such as age, gender, physical activity level, and health conditions. For example, older people tend to breathe less deeply than younger adults because they have fewer red blood cells. Women typically have lower levels of hemoglobin (the iron-containing molecule that carries oxygen) than men. And people who exercise regularly tend to breathe faster and deeper than those who lead sedentary lifestyles.

 Understand Blood Oxygen during Sleep

Blood oxygen levels during sleep should be at a 95 percent saturation, which is considered normal, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association (AASM). 

It is normal for blood oxygen levels to decrease during sleep. All body systems have altered basal function during your sleep, including breathing. You don’t breathe as deeply when you are sleeping, and not all your lung spaces function at full capacity.

Because of this effect of sleep on breathing, it is normal for your sleep oxygen level to decrease below awake levels. Tests that show a waking oxygen level at or above 94 percent typically indicate a sleep oxygen level of at or above 88 percent.

Learn more about Blood Oxygen during Sleep

The Importance of Breathing While Sleeping

If you’re not breathing properly while sleeping, you won’t receive enough oxygen to help your brain function at its peak. In fact, studies show that people who breathe through their mouths during sleep are more likely to suffer from insomnia than those who breathe through their noses.

 When Should You Wake Up?

The National Sleep Foundation recommends going to bed and waking up around the same time every day. That means getting up between 6 am and 7 am.

However, if you wake up feeling tired, you should probably go back to sleep. Besides that, there are some situations where waking up early might not be such a bad idea. For instance, if you work night shifts, you might find yourself having trouble falling asleep at night. In this case, getting up earlier than usual might help you feel more rested. To sleep faster and stay asleep longer, you can try to go to bed later than usual.

 The Importance of Tracking Your Blood Oxygen during Sleep

When your blood oxygen persistently drops below maintenance levels, health problems can develop.

In addition, certain medical conditions can lead to low oxygen while you are asleep:

• Sleep disorders, such as bouts of insomnia
• Poor sleep quality, such as restless sleep with several awakenings 
• High blood pressure 
• Cardiovascular disease including heart failure 
• Cardiac arrhythmia and a risk for sudden death 
• Type 2 diabetes 
• Depressed brain function and possible brain damage 
• Risk for loss of consciousness, coma, and death

That’s why you may need a sleep tracker that provides rich sleep data, so that you can keep your sleep health on track.

Named as the best sleep tracker with sleep reports by Sleep Foundation, Sleepon Go2Sleep is best for you if want in-depth health and sleep data, if you’re looking for a ring-style tracker, or if you’re a value seeker to understand your sleep patterns.

Sleepon Go2Sleep is a wearable silicone ring that weighs only 6 grams; it alerts you of abnormal heart and oxygen levels; and it provides you with data that includes ten different metrics.

Sleepon Go2Sleep is a wearable silicone ring that weighs only 6 grams; it alerts you of abnormal heart and oxygen levels; and it provides you with data that includes ten different metrics.

How to Increase Blood Oxygen Levels during Sleep 

There are several ways to increase blood oxygen levels during sleep.

One is to exercise regularly. Exercise helps improve circulation, which improves blood flow throughout the body. This means that exercising will help keep your blood flowing through your brain and other organs while you sleep.

Another way to increase blood oxygen levels is by eating foods rich in iron. Iron is an essential nutrient that plays a role in transporting oxygen throughout the body. Foods high in iron include red meat, poultry, fish, beans, lentils, spinach, and fortified cereals. Once inside your bloodstream, the iron travels to your cells where it binds to hemoglobin molecules. Hemoglobin is responsible for carrying oxygen throughout your body. If there is too little iron in your system, then your body cannot absorb enough oxygen from the air. As a result, you feel tired and lack energy.

 Conclusion

Blood oxygen is highly important for your sleep because its level shows the quality of your sleep health. If the level is below 88 on your sleep tracker, like Sleepon Go2Sleep then it’s a better idea to find solutions, including doing exercises and eating foods rich in iron.

Sleep deprivation can cause anxiety in people who suffer from insomnia.

This is because both cortisol and adrenaline are both released during times of stress. They help us deal with stressful situations by increasing our energy and alertness. However, when we are chronically stressed, these hormones can become elevated and lead to symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, irritability, and forgetfulness, which is a negative cycle: you’re stressed, you have sleep deprivation, and you stress more.

The National Sleep Foundation recommends getting seven to nine hours of sleep each night. However, if you find yourself waking up frequently during the night, don’t ignore it.

Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Sleep Deprivation

If you’re not getting enough sleep, you might feel tired throughout the day, have trouble concentrating, and even make mistakes at work. In fact, research shows that people who lack sleep are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders.

All of these can lead to increased blood pressure and decreased immune function. It means you might get sick easily, you’re more likely to have high blood pressure and other diseases.  

With that said, sleep and wellness are highly correlated. Sleep is the foundation of your overall health. Therefore, you should never ignore sleep deprivation.

Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Memory

A good night’s rest helps your brain process new information and recall old memories. It also improves your ability to learn new things and solve problems.

Forming memories and processing learned knowledge is an essential role of REM Sleep. One study suggests memories are retained during REM Sleep. A 2016 study found healthy adolescents that have sleep deprivation could increase the risk of forming false memories.

 Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Mood

When you’re tired and can’t get enough sleep during the night, your body produces less serotonin, which makes you feel anxious and depressed.

Serotonin levels naturally rise during REM sleep, which is why people often wake up feeling refreshed after sleeping well. And you might be waking up feeling groggy and down instead of rested.

 Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Attention

If you’re not getting enough sleep, your attention span will suffer. You’ll find yourself easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli, and you won’t be able to focus as well on tasks that require sustained concentration.

When we’re tired, our brains aren’t working at peak capacity. That’s why it’s important to get adequate rest each night. In fact, research shows that people who get less than seven hours of sleep per night are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as those who get eight hours of shut eye.

 Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Decision-Making

A lack of sleep also affects decision making.

Studies show that people who aren’t sleeping well make more mistakes when they’re tired than when they’re rested. This makes sense because our brains need sleep to process new information and make decisions.

“Sleep deprivation has been shown to impair cognitive function,” says Dr. David Dinges, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “It’s not just that we’re less able to think clearly; we’re also more likely to make bad decisions.”

In fact, research shows that people who get fewer than five hours of sleep each night are twice as likely to make poor financial choices. And while there are many factors that contribute to our decision making, one of the most important is sleep.

 How to Make up Missed Sleep

Can you make up the missed sleep due to sleep deprivation?

The simple answer is yes. If you have to get up early for an appointment on a Friday, and then sleep in that Saturday, you’ll mostly recover your missed sleep.

Sleep is a restorative activity — while you sleep, your brain is cataloging information and healing your body. It decides what’s important to hold onto, and what can be let go. Your brain creates new pathways that help you navigate the day ahead. Sleeping also heals and repairs your blood vessels and heart.

That being said, catching up on a missed night of sleep isn’t quite the same as getting the sleep you need in the first place. When you catch up, it takes extra time for your body to recover. It takes four days to fully recover from one hour of lost sleep.

Additionally, many Americans who lose sleep do so chronically instead of just once in a while. This creates a “sleep deficit,” making it harder to catch up on sleep and increasing the likelihood of sleep deprivation symptoms.

Besides that, if you find yourself waking up feeling groggy and unable to focus, it’s important to get back into bed right away. “If you wake up feeling exhausted, try going back to bed,” says Dr. David Dinges, director of the Center for Health Statistics and Policy at the University of Chicago. “You’ll be able to fall asleep again.”

Finally, if you’re feeling anxious before bedtime, try taking a hot bath instead of drinking coffee. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that people who took a hot bath before going to bed had lower levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) than those who drank coffee. Cortisol levels were also higher among those who drank caffeinated beverages before bed.

How to Know if You Have Sleep Deprivation

One tip to diagnose if you have sleep deprivation is to see how you feel after nights of sleep. Are you still tired after a night of sleep? Do you feel gloomy? Are you consistently stressed? Can you focus while you’re driving? Simply write down the answers so that you can have a general idea.

The second tip to diagnose sleep deprivation is track your sleep to better understand your sleep patterns, in order to improve quality sleep. Sleep trackers, like Go2Sleep, can be your fit, by providing rich data with reasonable pricing. Named as the best value sleep tracker of 2022, Go2Sleep collects data of heart rate, blood oxygen level, AHI (apnea-hypopnea index) to give you a basic understanding of your sleep. It also gives you a sleep score so you can have a straight sense of your sleep health.

Has your sleeping partner complained about you snoring at night? Well, if might indicate you have deeper issues, like sleep apnea.

However, does snoring always mean you have sleep apnea? The answer is no.1

Therefore, we will cover some major differences between sleep apnea and snoring.

What’s Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep that last for 10 seconds or more. It can cause excessive daytime sleepiness, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

The American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) estimates that approximately 18 million Americans have some form of obstructive sleep apnea. In addition, the National Institutes of Health reports that sleep apnea affects men twice as much as women.

 What’s Snoring?

Snoring is caused when air passes through the soft tissues of the throat while sleeping. It usually occurs only at night and is harmless unless it comes with other symptoms of apnea. Then, it’ll be a different story.

Snoring is a common symptom of sleep apnea, but it does not always indicate the presence of sleep apnea. A person with sleep apnea may still snore loudly, but he or she may also stop breathing while asleep.

Differences between Sleep Apnea and Snoring

1. Sleep Apnea is a serious health condition that can cause heart problems

If you suspect that you might have sleep apnea, talk with your doctor right away. He or she will perform an overnight test called a polysomnogram (PSG) to determine whether you actually have sleep apnea. This test involves attaching sensors to your body to monitor your brain waves, oxygen levels, and other vital signs. You also need to wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth so that you can breathe normally while asleep.

2.Sleep Apnea may be caused by obstructions in the nose or throat

Sleep apnea is caused by obstructions in the airway during sleep. These obstructions prevent airflow through the upper airways, causing breathing pauses and shallow breaths. As a result, blood oxygen levels drop, leading to daytime fatigue and drowsiness. People who suffer from sleep apnea often feel tired after waking up, even though they slept well at night. They may also experience headaches, memory lapses, irritability, and mood swings.

If you suspect that you or your partner has sleep apnea, consult your doctor immediately. He or she may recommend a sleep study to determine whether you have sleep apnea.

3.People who have Sleep Apnea are more likely to have high blood pressure

If you have sleep apnea, you’re more likely to develop high blood pressure than people without sleep apnea. This is because sleep apnea makes it harder for your body to regulate its blood pressure. In addition, people with sleep apnea tend to gain weight, which puts them at greater risk for hypertension.

4.Sleep Apnea may lead to depression

People who suffer from sleep apnea often feel tired during the day, even though they slept well at night. They also may feel irritable, depressed, anxious, and angry. These feelings may be due to the fact that people with sleep apnea have difficulty getting enough oxygen while they sleep.

 Treatment for Sleep Apnea

There are different types of treatment for sleep apnea. However, there is no one right type of treatment for everyone. It depends on what kind of sleep apnea you have, how severe it is, and whether you have other medical conditions.

To treat OSA, doctors use continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines. These devices provide a steady stream of pressurized air into the nose and throat to keep the airways open. CPAP machines are usually worn at night while asleep.

However, there are other treatments available for OSA. One option is oral appliances. Oral appliances work by changing the position of the jaw and tongue to prevent airway obstruction. Another treatment is surgery. Some people choose to undergo surgery because it is less invasive than CPAP therapy.

Except getting help from doctors, you always have the autonomy to treat Sleep Apnea on your own first.

Track your sleep. Having an affordable sleep tracker with rich data can give you a hand. More importantly, it can track AHI, Apnea Hypopnea Index, to give you an idea if you have sleep apnea or not.

Recommended by both Sleep Foundation and Healthline, the Go2SleepTracker from Sleepon gives you a variety of rich data for its price. It can offer you the best value if you want to know more about your sleep health.

The tracker fits your finger perfectly with light weight and food-grade silicon material. Its mobile app supports IOS 10.0 above and Android 4.2 above. It is also waterproof so you can be at ease if it gets wet accidentally.

Mayo Clinic addresses several ways to help you with sleep apnea through self-care:

• Lose some weight. Weight loss might relieve constriction of your throat so that sleep apnea can be solved if you return to a healthy weight.
• Do regular exercises. Try at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise, such as a quick walk.
• Avoid alcohol and certain medications such as tranquilizers and sleeping pills. Because they can relax the muscles in the back of your throat, interfering with breathing normally at night.
• Sleep on your side rather than on your back. 
• Quit smoking. Smoking not only can disturb your sleep at night but can also lead to lungs problems.

 Conclusion

Snoring and Sleep Apnea can be different but snoring is always a warning sign to check your sleep patterns. That way, you can at least have ease on mind and make sure you don’t have sleep disorders.

That’s why it’s important to important to have a sleep tracker (Go2Sleep is ranked as the best value sleep tracker by Sleep Foundation) to provide you with detailed data, especially AHI, to help you understand your own sleep pattern.

This busy society gives us too much stuff to worry about, school, work, or even life in general are all the things you have to take care of. All of these can affect your night of sleep and interpret your sleep.

This article aims to help you understand what causes regular interruption in sleep, what are the symptoms, what extra effects this problem can bring you, and some tips on how to fix it.

Overall, to keep your sleep on track is the best way know your sleep patterns.

What Is Interrupted Sleep?

Interrupted Sleep, just like the name, refers to inconsistent sleep that’s affected by different factors during the night. It can be led by various sleep disorders that throw off your natural sleep rhythms, which will eventually lead to overall poor sleep.

Although the reasons for interrupted sleep vary, poor sleep can later have negative impact on your physical and metal health. You might experience, for instance, taking extra time to fall asleep again; having too much thought on your mind during sleep time; affecting your partner’s quality sleep time, and more.

 What are the Symptoms of Interrupted Sleep?

If you consistently have interrupted sleep during the night, you may experience the following symptoms:

• Aches and pains during the day
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Losing daytime functioning
• Losing focus, concentration, and creativity
• Increased stress
• Losing memories
• Feeling gloomy when you wake up
• Poor mood

 Potential Causes of Interrupted Sleep

1. Everyday stress: You can be stressed by a lot of things, including:

• Moving to a new home, school, or job
  • Getting into arguments with family members or friends
  • Having big tests or projects coming up
  • Anything else in your life that makes you worry a lot

2. Mental health issues: After being stressed for a while, your situation can worsen to anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder which can all affect your sleep.

3. Chronic pain: You might find it hard to sleep at night if you have chronic pain from an injury or arthritis. We all know the difficulties of falling asleep after an injury even though sleep is important to our recoveries.

4. Sleep apnea: You may experience snoring or airflow disruption caused by Sleep Apnea. These breathing issues can then interrupt your sleep. Be aware of the following causes for sleep apnea:

• Overweight: Higher your BMI (body mass index) is, the more likely you’ll develop sleep apnea.
  • Abnormal hormone: Hormone conditions like an underactive thyroid or excess production of growth hormone may increase the likelihood of you having sleep apnea by causing tissue swollen near the airway or causing overweight.
  • Sleeping position: You may experience sleep apnea while sleeping on your back because it can narrow the airway.
  • Nasal congestion: If you have difficulty breathing through the nose, you are more likely to have OSA.

Learn more about Sleep Apnea: 5 Health Issues Related to Sleep Apnea – Sleepon

5. Uncomfortable bedroom: Room temperature is a huge factor to interrupt your sleep at night. Or your partner may be snoring or moving consistently that can also disturb your sleep if you’re a light sleeper.

6. Smoking cigarette: If you’re a smoker, you are three times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea. Smoking can increase the amount of inflammation and fluid retention in the upper airway.

7. Caffeine and alcohol: If you drink coffee or tea right before bed, the stimulants may keep you alert and interfere with the body’s natural ability to balance out sleep, which in turn makes you harder to fall asleep at night.  Besides caffeine, according to UC Davis Health, alcohol can’t necessarily help you stay asleep or sleep well either.

8. Napping during the day: A nap that exceeds 45 minutes during the day can lead to deep sleep and interfere with your normal body clock which will alternately cause you having a harder time to fall asleep at night.

Potential Effects of Interrupted Sleep

1. Can’t Focus

After you have a night of interrupted sleep, your focus and attention can both suffer. You may find it hard to concentrate and you’ll react to things slower as well, which can be associated with an increased possibility in car accidents. In this case, you can’t react as fast as you normally can if a car in front suddenly brakes or swerves.

2. Losing Memories

Deep sleep is essential in processing learnings from the day and committing them to your memory. With that said, if your sleep is consistently interrupted, you won’t reach deep sleep, and you’ll have trouble remembering things later, especially the things you learned the day before.

3. Increased Risk of Alzheimer’s

When you’re sleeping normally, your brain releases toxins such as amyloid-beta, which is linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have shown those who have regular sleep interruption; the brain imaging indicates a buildup of amyloid-beta. In addition, research has specified that people with disrupted sleep are 1.5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s in a certain period of time.

4. Being Moody

When you’re in REM sleep, your brain also process emotions and feelings. Therefore, if you always have the sleep interrupted, you’re more likely to be angrier and depressed than those who sleep normally.

Learn more about REM sleep functions: 

REM Sleep Functions: Why are They Important to You? 

5. You May Get Sick More Often

If you can’t sleep well at night, it’ll affect your immune system and you’ll find yourself getting ill more often. However, with consistent interrupted sleep, it’s harder for your body to fight against infections and reduce inflammation.

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Tips to Prevent Interrupted Sleep

1. Improve your sleep hygiene

We collected a few ways to improve your sleep hygiene to save time:

• Keep a regular sleep schedule. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends
• Create a steady routine before bedtime, including spending some time to wind down and relax
• Avoiding alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, and big meals in the evening, especially in the hours before bed
• Do regular outdoor activities to have enough sunlight
• Finding time to do exercises every day

Learn more: 10 Tips for Sleep Hygiene Checklist to Better Your Sleep

2. Track your sleep

Writing down your sleep schedule or how you feel after sleep, in order to help you have an idea of your sleep patterns to decide whether you need to seek professional help or not.

Get a sleep tracker.  Go2sleep could be a choice as your sleep tracker. It can track sleep data all night, provide comprehensive sleep report with accurate data. Besides, it is small and light. More importantly, it offers you the best value and Sleep Foundation named it the best value sleep tracker of 2022.

3. Control caffeine and alcohol intake

Avoid caffeine after noon because caffeine stimulates the nervous system and keeps us awake.

But if you drink coffee after noon, you may find yourself more tired during the evening. This is because caffeine has a diuretic effect, meaning it makes you urinate more often. So, if you drink coffee after lunch, try drinking it earlier in the day instead.

In the meantime, drinking alcohol will certainly make you feel sleepy at first, but just one alcoholic beverage close to your bedtime can obstruct your sleep cycle, leading to interrupted sleep at night.

4.Control caffeine and alcohol intake

Avoid caffeine after noon because caffeine stimulates the nervous system and keeps us awake.

But if you drink coffee after noon, you may find yourself more tired during the evening. This is because caffeine has a diuretic effect, meaning it makes you urinate more often. So, if you drink coffee after lunch, try drinking it earlier in the day instead.

In the meantime, drinking alcohol will certainly make you feel sleepy at first, but just one alcoholic beverage close to your bedtime can obstruct your sleep cycle, leading to interrupted sleep at night.

5.Control your screen time

Being on your screen, like phone, TV, tablet can prevent your body from releasing sleep hormone, which can interpret your sleep at night. On top of that, electronic devices tend to keep your mind racing and make it more difficult to wind down into sleep mode.

Conclusion

Sleep and wellness are highly related. That’s why fixing regular interruption in sleep is essential to you. In this case, tracking your sleep is easy and affordable, with the help of a sleep tracker like Go2sleep.

It gives you a variety of data, including your heart rate, blood oxygen, AHI, HRV, and more. All of this information is definitely needed to know about your sleep cycle.

References

Interrupted Sleep – Causes Helpful Tips – Sleep Foundation

Causes of Interrupted Sleep

Interrupted Sleep: Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention – The Sleep Doctor

Interrupted sleep: causes and effects | Goodsomnia blog

Interrupted Sleep: 5 Tips for Preventing Interrupted Sleep

WebMD – Better information. Better health

Have you felt you’re slowly losing memories?

This could be due to a lack of good sleep, especially Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep.

During the first part of the night, we spend most of our time in deep sleep (also called slow wave sleep). This is where our brains process information and memories. The second half of the night is spent in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, where one of the functions during this stage is for our bodies to repair themselves.

Therefore, we’ll cover REM Sleep functions today to help you better understand the importance of it. You can also get a sleep tracker to better understand your sleep patterns.

What is REM Sleep?

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep, which was first defined in 1953, is a sleep stage where we dream and develop our memories, learning and problem solving.

Originated in the brain stem, electrical and chemical activities are regulated in this phase.

It’s also associated with random rapid movement of eyes and low muscle tone throughout the body.

When does REM Sleep happen?

Typically, REM Sleep happens around 90 minutes into the sleep cycle.

It’s part of our whole night’s sleep, along with the other four non-REM Sleep stages by happening after them.

Our full night of sleep involves these five sleep stages multiple times, where the period of REM Sleep recycles once every 90 to 120 minutes.

Each stage of sleep happens in the following sequence:

Stage 1 of non-REM Sleep (Light Sleep)

The first stage of sleep is called light sleep. During this phase, your body temperature drops slightly. You may often wake up during this stage because the brain sends signals to your muscles telling them to move.

During this stage, there is muscle tone present in the skeletal muscles. You also tend to breathe at a regular rate at this stage.

Stage 2 of non-REM Sleep (Light Sleep)

Stage 2 follows Stage 1 and usually means deeper sleep, but it’s still considered as light sleep. You are less likely to get woken at this stage.

During this stage, your heart rate and breathing regulate, your body temperature goes down, your eye movement slows down until it completely stops, your muscles tend to relax.

Stage 3 of non-REM Sleep (Deep Sleep)

Even though stage 3 is considered as deep sleep, it still acts as the transition between deeper sleep (stage 4) and REM sleep (stage 5), in which your body temperature starts to rise.

At the same time, your brain waves slow down in stage 3 where your muscles relax and breathing slows even more. It’s also harder to wake up and we might feel at loss of direction if the alarm rings. Research has used loud noises that are over 100 decibels but still couldn’t awake participants that were in deep sleep.

Stage 4 of non-REM Sleep (Deep Sleep)

In stage 4 of non-REM sleep, we are in deep sleep where our brain waves further slow down. In this stage, your body starts tissue repair and growth, same as your muscles, because your blood flow increases to the muscles. Besides that, the hormone for growth is released.

What is it like during REM Sleep?

You may experience multiple changes in your body and mind during this phase:

• Rapid eye movements. The name of this phase is from the observation that scientists did in the 1950s that a person’s eyes moved rapidly from side to side. 
• Fast breathing. During REM Sleep, your breathing can become fast and irregular.
• Fast heart rate. You may experience a fast heart rate to nearly the waking level.
• Increased blood pressure. If you use a sleep tracker during the night, you’ll realize the blood pressure is raised along with other vitals that are faster, like breathing and heart rate.
• Brain activity. Your brain is highly active during REM Sleep, similar to when you’re awake. Your brain waves become more variable. Besides that, your brain consumes more oxygen in this stage as well.
• Paralyzed movement. Many muscles in this stage become paralyzed. Researchers have hypothesized that this is a protective measure, meant to stop you from acting out your dreams.
• Muscle twitches.  From your face to your limbs, they may experience muscle twitches. Scientists say the muscle twitches can help certain areas of your brain to be active, which in turn leads to motor learning and development. 
• Dreaming. Dreaming is more likely to happen in this stage, and your dreams can be long as well as emotional and vivid, like they’re happening in real life.

 Why is REM Sleep so important?

We all know sleep is very vital to our wellness and overall functioning. REM Sleep, as part of the entire sleep process, functions of REM Sleep include emotional regulation, dreaming, memory consolidation, and brain development.

• Emotional regulation.A 2015 study indicated that REM Sleep may regulate emotional arousal, which also links to the involvement of memory.

• Dreaming. Most of your dreams occur during REM Sleep. Although dreaming can happen during non-REM Sleep as well, according to Neuroscience 2^nd Edition, people in an REM Sleep experiment are awakened from REM sleep recall elaborate, vivid, and emotional dreams, whereas others awakened during non-REM sleep report fewer dreams.

• Memory consolidation. Forming memories and processing learned knowledge is another essential role of REM Sleep. One study suggests memories are retained during REM Sleep. A 2016 study found healthy adolescents that have sleep deprivation could increase the risk of forming false memories.

• Brain development. This is extremely important among children. Data has shown that up to 50% of sleep is REM Sleep during early childhood. With that said, while a child’s brain and body are fast-growing, it’s when they spend most of their time in REM Sleep. Research has found such evidence in animals.

How much REMA Sleep do you need?

As an adult, the amount of time spent in REM Sleep varies from person to person. Scientists all agreed that 7-9 hours of sleep is needed among adults, yet they haven’t concluded about the average time of REM Sleep; some say adults need around 2 hours of REM Sleep each night.

However, REM Sleep is more common among infants and children. For instance, newborn babies typically spend 8 hours a day in REM Sleep. Since this sleep stage may be responsible for brain development, that explains why infants require higher levels of REM Sleep than adults.

What if you don’t get enough REM Sleep?

Many studies showed REM Sleep deprivation can cause memory loss and hard to learn since REM Sleep deprivation interferes with your brain’s ability to generate new cells.

Besides that, lack of REM Sleep can also:

• Reduce coping skills. A lack of REM Sleep may decrease your ability to tell the difference between threatening and non-threatening stimuli and respond accordingly. During the day, you may also have difficulty in concentrating.
• Develop obesity. REM Sleep deprivation disrupts your quality of sleep, which can be linked to obesity, and furthermore, diabetes
• Affect childhood development. Among children, not be able to have enough REM Sleep can affect the development of vision and also result in having behavioral issues later in the future. 
• Influence pain tolerance. Not having enough REM Sleep can increase your pain sensitivity. With that said, you may be unable to tolerate pain for longer times compared to a person that isn’t REM deprived.  

How to Get More Quality Sleep?

One of the first steps to improving your sleep is to make sure you’re getting enough quality sleep. This means going to bed at a reasonable hour (ideally between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.), waking up naturally without an alarm clock, and avoiding caffeine and alcohol before bedtime. You should also avoid napping during the day because it disrupts your body’s natural circadian rhythm.

If you want to get more quality sleep, try going to bed earlier than usual. Research shows that people who go to bed at 10 p.m. tend to wake up around 7 a.m., while those who go to bed at midnight wake up between 8 and 9 a.m.

You can also try to track your sleep to better understand your sleep patterns, in order to improve quality sleep. Sleep trackers, like Go2Sleep, can be your fit, by providing rich data with reasonable pricing. Named as the best value sleep tracker of 2022, Go2Sleep collects data of heart rate, blood oxygen level, AHI (apnea-hypopnea index) to give you a basic understanding of your sleep. It also gives you a sleep score so you can have a straight sense of your sleep health.

References

REM sleep: Definition, functions, and the effects of alcohol

What is REM Sleep and How Much Do You Need?

REM Sleep: What It Is and Why It Matters | Sleep Foundation

The Possible Functions of REM Sleep and Dreaming – Neuroscience – NCBI Bookshelf

The role of REM sleep theta activity in emotional memory

What is REM Sleep? – The Sleep Doctor

sleepon.us

Best Sleep Trackers of 2022 | Sleep Foundation

The role of rapid eye movement sleep for amygdala-related memory processing – ScienceDirect

The Possible Functions of REM Sleep and Dreaming – Neuroscience – NCBI Bookshelf

Sleep deprivation increases formation of false memory – PMC

Sleep apnea is a condition that causes people to stop breathing during sleep. Around 18 million Americans have such condition.

However, you may be wrong if you think having sleep apneas isn’t a big deal. And there’s also increasing evidence that if you leave sleep apnea untreated, it can have a significant impact on your personal health. We’ll cover five health issued related to sleep apneas in this article.

In addition, if you’re interested in knowing how well you sleep, getting a sleep tracker can help you.

What is Sleep Apnea?

According to Mayo Clinic, sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that you may experience breathing repeatedly starts and stops.

In general, there are 3 types of sleep apnea:

• Obstructive sleep apnea, which affects 2% to 9% of the adult population in the US, is a respiratory disorder that causes people experiencing either complete or partial collapse of the upper airway during sleep. It can lead to trouble breathing in sleep and even disturb your bed partner.

For more information, please visit obstructive sleep apnea.

• Central sleep apnea, which appears among 0.9% of those who are over 40, happens when your brain doesn’t send proper signals to activate respiratory muscles. It is mainly defined by pauses in breathing because of lacking respiratory effort in sleep.

For more information, please visit central sleep apnea.

• Complex sleep apnea syndrome, which is also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, includes the symptoms that both has both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea have.

What are the Symptoms of Sleep Apnea?

We summarized several symptoms of sleep apnea for your convenience if you need to diagnose it on your own.

• Snoring.

If you snore, you might be suffering from sleep apnea. In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, nearly half of men and one third of women between 40 and 70 years old suffer from some form of sleep apnea.

• Gasps for Breath.

Snoring is caused by vibrations of the soft tissues in the back of the airway as the muscles relax during sleep. These vibrations cause the tongue to vibrate against the palate, creating noise. In some people, the vibration of the soft tissues in front of the airway also causes them to collapse, resulting in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is characterized by repeated episodes of partial or complete obstruction of the upper airway during sleep.

• Choking Sounds.

If you wake up choking or gasping for breath, you should call 911 immediately. You will need to stay calm and quiet so that emergency personnel can hear you. Do not try to clear your throat yourself; instead, wait for help.

• Waking Frequently.

If you wake up frequently during the night, you may have sleep apnea. This condition occurs when your airway becomes blocked during sleep. As a result, you stop breathing for short periods of time.

• Feeling Tired After Only Few Hours of Sleep.

If you suffer from sleep apnea, you might be tired after only few hours of sleep. You might feel sleepy throughout the day and find yourself nodding off at work. You might wake up feeling groggy and foggy. These symptoms could be caused by sleep deprivation.

Besides the symptoms, you can also use a sleep tracker to classify your sleep by AHI (Apnea-hypopnea Index):

• Severe obstructive sleep apnea: AHI is greater than 30
• Moderate obstructive sleep apnea: AHI is between 15 and 30
• Mild obstructive sleep apnea: AHI is between 5 and 15

What are the Major Causes of Sleep Apnea?

Studies have found the following factors that are associated with an increased possibility of having sleep apnea.

• Overweight: Higher your BMI (body mass index) is, the more likely you’ll develop sleep apnea.
• Smoke cigarette: Research has found sleep apnea happens more often among cigarettes smokers, compared to non-smokers.
• Abnormal hormone: Hormone conditions like an underactive thyroid or excess production of growth hormone may increase the likelihood of you having sleep apnea by causing tissue swollen near the airway or causing overweight.
• Sleeping position: You may experience sleep apnea while sleeping on your back because it can narrow the airway.
• Nasal congestion: If you have difficulty breathing through the nose, you are more likely to have OSA.
• Alcohol intake: Alcohol can relax the muscles in the back of your throat, interfering with breathing normally at night.

 5 Health Issues Related to Sleep Apnea

Studies indicate that having sleep apnea can raise your heart rate and blood pressure, which in turn can put stress on the heart. It’s because sleep apnea reduces blood oxygen level and activate the nerve system that’s responsible for increasing heart performance. On top of that, it also increases levels of chemicals in blood that cause inflammation and elevate blood sugar. Such inflammation can harm your heard and blood vessels. Therefore, sleep apnea may trigger both hypertension and diabetes.  

If you leave sleep apnea untreated, you may be more likely to have the following health issues:

· Hypertension

Over 40% of Americans between the ages of 50 and 60 years old have high blood pressure issues. Sleep apnea is a risk factor for it. Around 50% of people with sleep apnea have hypertension.

· Heart Disease

Sleep apnea might be a risk factor for heart diseases, including future heart attack or angina pectoris.  According to statistics, 67% of the adult Americans have heart disease. It often leads to heart attacks and premature death in this country.

· Stroke

You might have heard someone you know had a stroke and it seems a pretty common event, although it’s always devastating to hear. And sleep apnea might be one of the causes for a stoke, and even recovering from a stroke with sleep apnea can be delated. On the other hand, people who had a stroke are more likely to have sleep apnea.

· Diabetes

Research has shown that blood sugar levels among people with sleep apnea are higher. Along with the growth in obesity in the USA, more people are having type 2 diabetes.  Although the correlation still needs to be studied more, it appears that treatment of sleep apnea improves blood sugar levels.

 Treatments to Sleep Apneas

We collected some recommended treatments from Mayo Clinic to save you time to self-care your sleep apnea:

• Lose some weight. Weight loss might relieve constriction of your throat so that sleep apnea can be solved if you return to a healthy weight.
• Do regular exercises. Try at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise, such as a quick walk.
• Avoid alcohol and certain medications such as tranquilizers and sleeping pills. Because they can relax the muscles in the back of your throat, interfering with breathing normally at night.
• Sleep on your side rather than on your back. 
• Quit smoking. Smoking not only can disturb your sleep at night but can also lead to lungs problems.

Conclusion

You can’t underestimate what sleep apnea can bring to your health because it’s not as simple as just snoring and not feeling rested. Sleep apnea can cause more damaging health problems if it’s untreated, including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

What to do next? We believe not only it’s important practice the treatments we mentioned, like control weight, do regular exercise, quite smoking, it’s also essential to have a sleep tracker (Go2Sleep is ranked as the best value sleep tracker by Sleep Foundation) to provide you with detailed data, especially AHI, to help you understand your own sleep pattern.

References

Sleep Apnea: Causes, Symptoms, Tests Treatments

Sleep apnea – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic

The Dangers of Uncontrolled Sleep Apnea | Johns Hopkins Medicine

Sleep apnea: 11 Hidden Dangers

Sleep Apnea: Symptoms and Causes | Sleep Foundation

Sudden change in sleep schedule is very common among people of all ages, especially those who travel frequently. The most common cause for sleep schedule changes is jet lag, which occurs when your body clock gets thrown off by traveling across multiple time zones. Other factors that contribute to sleepless nights include stress, anxiety, and medical conditions.

If you are traveling or experiencing any stress and anxiety, we’ll explain why sleep schedule is important to your body and include some tips to fix and adjust yourself.

The Importance of a Good Night’s Sleep Schedule

Sleep and wellness are highly correlated; less sleep can cause stress, anxiety, fatigue and more. As we humans are described as creatures of habit, it’s important for us to form a sleep schedule and routine so that we can cultivate a healthy sleep schedule.

By creating sleep habits can promote a good sleep schedule, meaning falling asleep quickly and staying sleep at the right time can benefit a lot on our personal health, physically and mentally.

 The Importance of a Good Night’s Sleep Schedule

Sleep and wellness are highly correlated; less sleep can cause stress, anxiety, fatigue and more. As we humans are described as creatures of habit, it’s important for us to form a sleep schedule and routine so that we can cultivate a healthy sleep schedule.

By creating sleep habits can promote a good sleep schedule, meaning falling asleep quickly and staying sleep at the right time can benefit a lot on our personal health, physically and mentally.

What Causes Changes in Your Sleep Schedule?

Our body clock that controls sleep schedules is sensitive to environmental changes, such as light and change of time zones. Other common reasons for changes in your sleep schedule include stress, and anxiety.

Here are some common causes that can change your sleep schedule:

• Jet lag If you’re a traveler, you must have had this experience while you arrive in a new place that’s in a different time zone, jet lag occurs when the body’s internal clock is at odds with the day-night cycle at the travel destination.
• Shift work:You might have night shifts at work that you have to be awake when it’s night out and rest when the sun is out. This can disrupt your internal body clock as well, and it’s more common among night club staff, truckers, and nurses and so on.
• Screen light exposure: Normally, your body has been developed the ability to correspond to sunlight before electricity was invented. And it hasn’t been advanced enough to not to react to artificial lights on, such as cell phones, tablets, TVs, and computers, which can disrupt the signal that controls your sleep schedule.
• Personal choices: Sometimes, you may want to stay up late or get up early to play games, play sports, study due to approaching deadlines, these can affect your normal sleep schedules.  
• Caffeine intake:If you drink coffee or tea right before bed, the stimulants may keep you alert and interfere with the body’s natural ability to balance out sleep, which in turn makes you harder to fall asleep at night. 
• Stress and anxiety:These are a huge factor as well, including depression and other emotional and mental health issues. For instance, you can get stressed out by the environment:
  • Moving to a new home, school, or job
  • Getting into arguments with family members or friends
  • Having big tests or projects coming up
  • Anything else in your life that makes you worry a lot
• Disruptive sleep hours: When you have a newborn or even a pet can disrupt your sleep hours at night because kids may ask for food and a pet, like a cat, may climb on your bed that wakes you up in the middle of the time. They can make you tired during the day by changing your normal sleep schedules.
• Chronic health problems:Studies have found that chronic health issues, like obesity, diabetes, bipolar disorder and more, can misalign your body clock and sleep schedule; it can also lead to poor sleep quality.

Learn more about causes for sleep problems:

What causes insomnia in males?

What causes insomnia in females?

When Should You Wake Up?

There’s not a specific time that you should wake up every day. What matters is you feel rested and rebooted after a night of sleep.

In general, as a healthy adult, you should get at least seven and nine hours of sleep, and it’s essential to have this sleep schedule every night.

However, if you find yourself waking up at night due to a sudden change in your sleep schedule; try to adjust your bedtime gradually. Start by going to bed earlier than usual one night, and then add 30 minutes each night until you reach your desired bedtime. If you wake up during the night, get up and go back to sleep. Don’t worry if you feel groggy the next day; your body will eventually catch up to your new sleeping pattern. 

Tips for Getting Back into a Regular Sleep Schedule

As we mentioned before, humans are habit-oriented creatures so when it comes to getting back into a regular sleep schedule, making the schedule consistent should be a priority, as behaviors will become a pattern after being repeated over and over again.

Simply pick a wake-up time and sleep time to stick with, and then you should just follow this schedule day by day.

To work better, you can first focus on the wake-up time and try to get up at the exact same time every day. Then, change your sleep time, and modify the following behaviors in sleep hygiene:

1. Set an Alarm Clock.

For example, if you wake up at 5am every day, then go to bed at 11pm, you won’t be able to fall asleep until midnight. That means you’re going to stay awake until 2am, which isn’t conducive to sleeping.

To avoid this problem, set an alarm clock for the same time each night. You should also try to keep your bedroom dark and quiet. Light from outside sources can disrupt your circadian rhythm, making it harder to fall asleep.

2. Create a Bedtime Routine.

Try creating a bedtime routine that includes getting ready for bed, reading, relaxing, listening to music, take a bath, or winding down before going to sleep.

You might even consider using a white noise machine to drown out any noises outside your room.

However, avoid stimulating activities such as watching TV, playing video games, or surfing the internet before going to bed. According to UC Davis Health, the blue light from cellphones, tablets and computers signals our bodies to stay awake and not release melatonin.

Finally, try to go to bed at the same time every night.

3. Avoid Caffeine After Noon.

Avoid caffeine after noon because caffeine stimulates the nervous system and keeps us awake.

But if you drink coffee after noon, you may find yourself more tired during the evening. This is because caffeine has a diuretic effect, meaning it makes you urinate more often. So, if you drink coffee after lunch, try drinking it earlier in the day instead.

4.Don’t Stay up Late.

In addition to being bad for your body, staying up late can also affect your brain. Studies show that people who stay awake past midnight are at greater risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life.

Therefore, just simply try to go to bed early. If you find yourself staying up late at night watching TV or surfing the internet, try turning off your devices before bedtime. Make sure you go to bed at a reasonable hour. Try not to fall asleep before 11pm.

5.Don’t nap too much during the day.

Sleep Society says don’t exceed 45 minutes of nap during the because it can lead to deep sleep and interfere with your normal body clock which will alternately cause you having a harder time to fall asleep at night

6.Keep your bedroom cool. 

Studies find that between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit is the best for people to fall asleep at night. Don’t forget to make your bed and pillow comfortable as well.

7.Do some exercise.

 Exercise overall can reduce your stress, boost your mood, and eventually help you sleep better at night. But just remember to finish the exercise hours before bedtime to give your body time to cool down.

8.Don’t drink too much alcohol.

Alcohol consumption could throw off your sleep patterns. UC Davis Health says: “alcohol can help you fall asleep, but not necessarily stay asleep or sleep well.”

9.Write a sleep diary.

Like you wrote a diary when you were little, write down your sleep routine for one to two weeks (bedtime, wake time, naps, caffeine use, etc.) or with the help of a sleep tracker. The information can help you or your health provider understand patterns or behaviors of your insomnia.

10.Track your sleep at night.

Get a sleep tracker.  Go2sleep could be a choice as your sleep tracker. It can track sleep data all night, provide comprehensive sleep report with accurate data. Besides, it is small and light. More importantly, it offers you the best value and Sleep Foundation named it the best value sleep tracker of 2022.

How Can You Manage Sleep Schedule When Travel?

Let’s say you’re travelling from USA to Asia, and there’s a huge time difference in these two time zones (12 to 13 hours difference), or just even travelling within two time zones, use these tips to adjust your sleep schedule:

• Change eating schedule to your destination’s time.
• Try to keep awake as much as possible. This works better especially if you travel across many time zones, keeping yourself awake during your destination’s daytime can help you adjust the time better.
• Relax. If you’re on vacation, just sleep whenever you want, it typically takes a week or so to get used to a new place’s time if you travel very far.
• Be ready for jet-leg symptoms, including daytime sleepiness, insomnia, headache and so on. Get yourself melatonin or other medications that are over the counter to ease the symptoms.

Conclusion

Keep a healthy sleep schedule is vital to your well-being, even though it may be hard, due to the change of environment, your personal choices, and disorders. This article explained why sleep schedule is important and how to fix it whether you face any issues.

In addition, if you’re struggling with changes in sleep schedule, it’s always a good idea to have a sleep tracker, like Go2Sleep, to track your sleep wherever you go so that you can understand your sleep better. With the rich data, including your heart rate, blood oxygen, AHI, HRV and convenient report exportation, you can later adjust your behaviors at ease.

References:

How to Reset Your Sleep Routine | Sleep Foundation

How to Sleep Well Despite Changes in Your Schedule | Johns Hopkins Medicine

How to Fix Your Sleep Schedule | Everyday Health

What causes insomnia in males? 5 Reasons Explained with Diagnostic Tips– Sleepon

What Causes Snoring in Female? – Sleepon

What Is Sleep Hygiene? | Sleep Foundation

COVID-19 is wrecking our sleep with coronasomnia – tips to fight back

10 common mistakes in fighting ‘coronasomnia’ — the inability to fall and stay asleep

Coronasomnia: Why You May Not Be Sleeping and What to Do About It

Best Sleep Trackers

What causes insomnia in males? 5 Reasons Explained with Diagnostic Tips– Sleepon

Sleep is essential for our physical and emotional wellbeing. It helps us recover from stress and keep our bodies in good shape. But many people struggle to fall asleep at night and stay asleep throughout the night. This article will explain the different stages of sleep and give you tips on improving your sleep quality.

Five Stages of Sleep Cycle

Scientists categorized sleep cycle into five stages based on the characteristics of our brain and body during the night of sleep. They categorized stage 1, 2, 3 and 4 as ‘non-REM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep’ whereas stage 5 is considered as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. The amount of time you spend on each stage will have a big impact on how well you feel rested and how much energy you have during the day.

Scientist used brainwave frequencies and amplitudes from an electroencephalogram (EEG) differentiate these stages of sleep, along with other biologic rhythms including eye movements (EOG) and muscle movements (EMG).

Here are the five stages of sleep cycle:

Stage 1 of non-REM Sleep (Light Sleep)

The first stage of sleep is called light sleep. During this phase, our body temperature drops slightly. We often wake up during this stage because our brain sends signals to our muscles telling them to move. If we don’t get enough sleep, we might feel groggy and tired the next day.

During this stage, there is muscle tone present in the skeletal muscles. We also tend to breath at a regular rate at this stage.

In the meantime, we can probably still sense what’s going on around us. Therefore, we can usually get woken by noises or other disturbances.

Stage 2 of non-REM Sleep (Light Sleep)

Stage 2 follows Stage 1 and usually means deeper sleep, but it’s still considered as light sleep. We are less likely to get woken at this stage.

During this stage, our heart rate and breathing regulate, our body temperature goes down, our eye movement slows down until it completely stops, our muscles tend to relax.

Stage 3 of non-REM Sleep (Deep Sleep)

Even though stage 3 is considered as deep sleep, it still acts as the transition between deeper sleep (stage 4) and REM sleep (stage 5), in which our body temperature starts to rise.

At the same time, our brain waves slow down in stage 3 where our muscles relax and breathing slows even more. It’s also harder to wake up and we might feel at loss of direction if alarm rings. Research has used loud noises that are over 100 decibels but still couldn’t awake participants that were in deep sleep.

Stage 4 of non-REM Sleep (Deep Sleep)

In the stage 4 of non-REM sleep, we are in deep sleep where our brain waves further slow down. In this stage, our body starts tissue repair and growth, same as our muscles, because our blood flow increases to muscles. Besides that, the hormone for growth is released.

Stage 5 – REM Sleep

The final stage of the sleep cycle is stage 5, or REM sleep; it’s the stage where we dream. Our eyes move fast, and our breathing becomes shallow and rapid. Our body temperature regulation is off, even our body (mainly arms and legs) are paralyzed to stop us from acting our dreams. In addition, this stage is where scientists believe is to benefit for memories, learning and problem solving.

Typically, REM sleep happens around 90 minutes into the sleep cycle.

 How to Improve Your Sleep Quality?

Now, we know how many stages there are in the sleep cycle, but that’s just for people that can sleep normally. The reality is 40% of people reported having trouble sleeping, so here are some tips to help you improve the sleep quality:

• Understand your sleep cycle with a sleep tracker.

Recommended by both Sleep Foundation and Healthline, the Go2Sleep (Hot Summer Sale in $99) Tracker from Sleepon gives you a variety of rich data for its price. It can offer you the best value if you want to know more about your sleep cycle.

• Do regular exercise. 

Exercise overall can reduce your stress, boost your mood, and eventually boost your ability to have better deep sleep, especially after an intensive workout. If you want to grow muscles, it’s even more important to have good quality fo sleep.

• Cut caffeine intake after noon.

Caffeine can stimulate the nerve system and keep us you awake at night, which in turn disrupt us from having deep sleep. Avoid caffeine after noon because caffeine stimulates the nervous system and keeps us awake. Shorter sleep significantly cut down our deep sleep period and REM sleep.

• Keep your bedroom cool

Studies find that between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit is the best for people to fall asleep at night. Don’t forget to make your bed and pillow comfortable as well.

Conclusion

It’s always important to know our own body and health, sleep health is no exception. Therefore, we covered five stages of sleep cycle to better understand ourselves. Also, we know not everyone can sleep normally so we provided some tips to improve your sleep quality.

In the end, have a sleep tracker is essential to indicate rich data about your sleep cycle, which will also give you an idea what you need to do, what you need to avoid to better your sleep at night.

As the Best Valued Sleep Tracker in 2022, Go2Sleep gives you a variety of data, including your heart rate, blood oxygen, AHI, HRV, and more. All of this information are definitely needed to know about your sleep cycle.

References

What Are The Stages Of Sleep & What Does Each Stage Do?

The 5 Stages of Sleep: Sleep Cycle Center: Sleep Specialists

5 Stages of Sleep & Sleep Cycles | American Sleep Association

8 Best Sleep Trackers for 2022

Snoring is common for almost everyone.

However, as a woman, you might downplay the snoring problems because you think it’s more like a males’ issue. The reality isn’t what you think.

Study finds that around 40% of adult women and 57% of adult mean experience snoring occasionally.

Shocking? Or maybe your sleep partner has already complained about it?

Today, we’ll explain the causes of snoring among females and give you eight recommendations to help if you have the issue.

What causes snoring in general?

According to Mayo Clinic, factors such as your mouth anatomy, sinuses anatomy, allergies, a cold, your weight, and drinking alcohol can all cause snoring at night.

When you are in deep sleep at night, the muscles in your mouth, tongue, and throat relax, and this is the outcome of aforementioned factors to cause snoring.  Your airway can be blocked by the relaxed tissues in your throat. A sleep tracker can monitor and record your sleep pattern so that you can understand the snoring better.

Here are the factors that can cause snoring in female, and being aware of them can give you an idea if you need to take any actions on it:

•  Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Obstructive sleep apnea, which affects 2% to 9% of the adult population in the US, is a respiratory disorder that causes you experiencing either complete or partial collapse of the upper airway during sleep. It can lead to trouble breathing in sleep and disturb your bed partner. 

For more information, please visit obstructive sleep apnea.

• Age. The likelihood of snoring is increasing with your age. If your age is over 30, chances of snoring is around 15% to 20%, more than if you’re under 30.

• Menopause. Menopause can loosen your muscle in the throat that will cause snoring. It typically happens when your PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) is over. By then, you can become just as likely as men to start snoring.

• Overweight. If you’re overweight, the tongue becomes too large, it presses against the back of the throat, causing the soft palate to vibrate. If the soft palate is pressed against the back of the tongue, then the vibration of the soft palate is transmitted to the tongue, causing the tongue to vibrate. This results in snoring.

• Pregnancy. Snoring during pregnancy is common because of the changes of your hormone levels, which expands the blood vessels in your nasal cavity and in turn force you breathe through your mouth, and this can cause snoring. It’s also partially because of weight gain during pregnancy.

• Fatigue. Another common cause of snoring is fatigue. When you feel exhausted, our bodies release adrenaline into our bloodstream, causing blood vessels to constrict and making breathing harder. As a result, the muscles around the throat relax, allowing them to vibrate during sleep, making the snoring even louder than usual.

• PCOS. Based on National Center for Biotechnology Information, women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may be at higher risk of having sleep apnea and snoring because of the excessive amount of male hormones they have, which are linked to snoring and sleep apnea.

What is the treatment for snoring in female?

In order to solve your snoring problems, most solutions are universal among men and women, except the case of pregnancy. So your partner snores and using some methods to cure it, you can also give them a try. Here we’ve collected eight ways to help with snoring.

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1. Choose the right pillows. There are anti-snoring pillows on the market to prevent your airways from getting blocked, because dust can get accumulated in pillows, which can make you have allergic reactions and finally lead to snoring.

Also, pick pillows that elevate your upper part of the body and align your spine to keep your air passage open. This can help with reducing snoring issues.

2.Change sleeping posture. Facing up while sleeping can make your tongue and soft palate being pushed to the back side of your throat, causing the air passage smaller. As we mentioned before, this can lead to snoring. Try to sleep on the side to prevent your tongue from blocking the airway.

3.Control weight gain. Being overweight can excess weight around your neck and squeezes the internal airway of the throat, which results in snoring at night. Therefore, simply lose weight can reduce the neck fat tissue and help reduce snoring.  

4.Drink enough water. A hydrated nose can decrease concentration of thick mucus in your mouth and throat that’s related to snoring. So, drinking enough water and keep yourself hydrated can cure snoring in some extend.  

5.Keep good sleep hygiene. Maintain your sleep hygiene can not only benefit your sleep problems but also help with snoring. For instance, do regular exercise to boost your energy to avoid fatigue; reduce caffeine intake; follow a consistent sleep routine; keep your room temperature between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit.

6.Track your sleep. With the help of a sleep tracker, you’ll know sleep patterns including AHI, Apnea Hypopnea Index, blood oxygen level to better understand your sleep and the snoring problems.

Recommended by both Sleep Foundation and Healthline, the Go2Sleep (Hot Summer Sale in $99) Tracker from Sleepon gives you a variety of rich data for its price. It can offer you the best value if you want to know more about your sleep health.

7.CPAP Therapy. This could be the last option for you if nothing else works. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy (CPAP) uses mild air pressure to open your airways, which results in reducing the snoring. But some people find it inconvenient, loud and uncomfortable.

8.Inspire Sleep Treatment. As opposed to CPAP, inspire sleep treatment is a maskless alternative. It’s a small implantable device placed under the skin in the chest to monitor your breathing patterns and stimulate a nerve that controls muscles at the back of your throat, which keeps your airway open during sleep, to help you sleep peacefully and breathe normally.

Conclusion

Now we know the reasons for snoring in females so maybe you should take it seriously if you do have snoring problems. Also, from the solutions for snoring, except for pregnancy, curing snoring is more about your lifestyle: maintain your sleep hygiene, drink enough water, control weight gain, etc.

Or let’s form a habit of tracking your sleep during the night to better know about yourself.

Check out Go2Sleep to learn more.

References

What Causes Snoring in Women?

Do Women Snore? 7 Scientifically Proven Ways to Prevent Snoring

Why do women snore?

What Causes Snoring in Women? Know the Common Reasons

The social stigma of snoring among women – why it’s bad for her sleep and health

Snoring – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic

Snoring – Neurologic Disorders – Merck Manuals Professional Edition

Sleep disturbances in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: prevalence, pathophysiology, impact and management strategies – PMC