Friday December 30, 2011
One of the most popular of the sleep-related apps (or applications) for iPhone, 'Sleep Cycle' works by tracking your movements during the night in order to perfectly time your morning awakening. What are the pros and cons of this app?
'Sleep Cycle' relies on your iPhone's accelerometer to monitor movement. The idea is that you place your iPhone near you in bed and that it will register movements. When you are in deeper sleep, especially REM sleep, it will document this stillness. When you are restless towards morning, drifting into lighter stages of sleep, it will seize on this wakefulness to alert you to get up for the day.
The interface of the app is slick. There are five tabs of controls and information. The first tab offers instructions on how best to place your phone and use the app. Under settings, you can choose an alarm sound (including a favorite song) and set your snooze options. You select a 30-minute period that you wish to awaken during. Then, each night after using it, it creates a summary page that includes a hypnogram (showing sleep stages) as well as your bedtime, wake time, and total and average sleep time. There are also options to share this information by email and Facebook.
'Sleep Cycle' is accurate at tracking the consistency of your sleep schedule. This is similar to documenting your sleep patterns with a sleep diary, and akin to monitoring that is better accomplished with an actigraph. But at a cost of just 99 cents, it is much less expensive than actigraphy.
There are unfortunately a lot of drawbacks to the 'Sleep Cycle' app:
- In order to function, the program must run overnight and this will slowly drain your battery. Although it will no doubt vary with your battery's age, it drained mine by 20% over 8 hours. The instructions recommend that you keep your phone plugged in, which could present a choking hazard should you become wrapped in the cord.
- The accelerometer will pick up any movements, including those of bed partners or pets.
- It brings your phone into the bedroom, and unless you put the phone in flight mode, you will be bothered with calls, texts, and alerts throughout the night.
- The sleep cycle hypnogram (for which the app is named) does not appear to be accurate. If you have a soft mattress pad or other bedding, the accuracy will suffer even more because movements will be missed.
- Setting a 30-minute window in which to have my alarm go off often left me getting less sleep than I desired. I would pick the later time to be the time when I absolutely had to wake up. More often than not it would awaken me earlier, which left me with less sleep than I had desired. I never really felt that I awakened more refreshed because of the perfectly timed alarm clock.
- In general, having the phone in bed also made me more conscious of being awake or asleep, and this seemed to fragment my sleep.
Therefore, though 'Sleep Cycle' is an exciting development in inexpensive technology that may help us to monitor our sleep, it seems that it is really only accurate to track your bedtime and wake time. It should not be used as an alternative to more sophisticated sleep studies. There are a lot of problems with its use, and I would not recommend it for these reasons.
What do you think? Share your favorite sleep apps.
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Friday December 30, 2011
In a condition that is more common as we get older, especially in men, getting up to pee during the night may plague your sleep. It is characterized by frequent awakenings due to a need urinate, but what is nocturia? What are some of the common causes?
In our youth, our bodies are able to concentrate our urine and allow us to sleep uninterrupted. However, this mechanism begins to become less effective as we get older for various reasons. For example, our kidneys may not be able to concentrate our urine as much as they could previously. In addition, older men often have benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which can lead to an inability to fully empty the bladder and more frequent trips to the bathroom, even at night. Aging may not be the only issue, however.
In fact, simply drinking too much water too close to bed may lead to nocturia. Alcohol and caffeine use may also contribute. Various medications may also have a role. There are also other causes of nocturia, including a possible contribution of obstructive sleep apnea.
If frequently getting up to go to pee is disturbing your sleep, take a careful look at some of the possible reversible causes and speak with your doctor if you desire further evaluation.
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Friday December 30, 2011
Sometimes sleep won't come. Whether at the start of the night, or after awakening, you may have trouble falling or staying asleep. This may represent a sleep disorder called insomnia. What are other symptoms of insomnia? What are some of the potential causes of short- and long-term insomnia?
The symptoms of insomnia extend beyond difficulty falling or staying asleep. In fact, if your sleep is simply not restorative or refreshing, you may also have insomnia. This extends to mental effects such as difficulty thinking, poor concentration, and mood problems. You may be more prone to making mistakes or having accidents. There may be other important consequences as well, many related to the associated sleep deprivation that occurs with insomnia.
If insomnia lasts for less than 3 months, it is classified as acute or short-term insomnia. The causes of short-term insomnia often relate to stress. For example, following the death of a loved one, after you lose a job or get a divorce, or any number of other stressors may incite difficulty sleeping. Importantly, other situational changes may lead to insomnia. Changes in your sleep environment may be disruptive. Travel across time zones may cause jet lag. An atypical work schedule may lead to shift work sleep disorder.
Finally, if your insomnia lasts more than 3 months, you may be interested in learning the causes of long-term insomnia. Certainly psychiatric problems such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may contribute. Medical problems, especially those that cause pain or difficulty breathing, may induce insomnia. In addition, other sleep disorders may lead to symptoms of insomnia.
Fortunately, there are many treatments to consider and if you have bothersome symptoms characteristic of insomnia, you should speak with your doctor about therapy options.
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Monday December 26, 2011
It may seem harmless: staying up a little too late, not getting enough rest, or simply not sleeping well. However, the side effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation can be diverse and profound.
Sleep deprivation occurs when we do not get the sleep that we need. Since everyone's basic sleep needs may vary, the threshold for becoming sleep deprived is also different. For example, if your body needs 9 hours of sleep each night, you will become sleep deprived when you only get 8 hours of sleep. Therefore, the effects of sleep deprivation can sneak up on you.
There are numerous symptoms of sleep deprivation aside from simply feeling sleepy. When we don't sleep enough, it affects our ability to think and process information. We may have trouble with our concentration, make mistakes, and have accidents. Our job performance may suffer and we are more likely to be involved in car accidents. Extreme sleep deprivation may lead to visual hallucinations and, in rare circumstances, even death. The side effects of sleep deprivation are not to be belittled.
Fortunately, the treatment of sleep deprivation can be effective. If we are afflicted with a sleep disorder such as insomnia or sleep apnea, addressing this underlying condition may be the key to us getting the sleep that we need. For many of us, it is simply a matter of allowing ourselves enough time in bed to adequately rest.
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