Sleep Health
From Medical News Today
Stages of sleep
When people sleep, their body goes through four stages of sleep.
Three of these stages are non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, with each stage a progressively deeper sleep. The final stage is rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, where dreaming mostly occurs.
The body cycles through each stage around four to six times over the course of a night.
Stage 1 NREM (Light sleep)
This is the lightest stage of NREM sleep, where a person transitions from wakefulness to sleep.
In this stage, a person’s brain waves, heartbeat, breathing, and eye movements slow. Their muscles also relax, with occasional twitching.
A person usually spends only 5% of their total sleep time in stage 1, which typically lasts several minutes at a time.
Stage 2 NREM (Deeper sleep)
In this stage, a person’s heart rate slows and muscles relax further. Their body temperature drops and eye movements stop.
A person’s brain-wave activity slows but they experience brief bursts of electrical activity, known as sleep spindles. Studies suggest sleep spindles help with memory consolidation.
People spend most of their total sleep time in stage 2 (about 45%). This stage typically lasts around 25 minutes in the first cycle, with time increasing in each cycle.
Stage 3 NREM (Deepest sleep)
This is the deepest stage of sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep (SWS), and accounts for about 25% of total sleep time.
A person’s heart rate, breathing, and brain waves slow to their lowest levels, and muscles completely relax. This stage is the hardest to awaken from, and when sleepwalking, bedwetting, and night terrors occur.
In this stage, a person’s body repairs itself, regrows tissues, strengthens the immune system, and builds bone and muscle. A person needs this stage of sleep to wake up feeling refreshed.
Stage 4 REM (Dreaming)
This is the stage of sleep where dreaming and nightmares mostly occur. It usually begins about 90 minutes after a person falls asleep.
A person’s eyes move rapidly from side to side with eyelids closed during this stage, and heart rate and breathing increase.
Brain activity becomes closer to that seen in wakefulness, but arm and leg muscles become paralyzed to stop a person from acting out their dreams. Experts believe a person needs some REM and non-REM sleep for memory consolidation.
People spend around 25% of total sleep time in REM sleep, with each cycle lasting from 10 minutes to an hour.
Tips for improving sleep:
Avoiding sleeping in when you have had enough sleep.
Going to bed around the same time each night.
Spending more time outside and being more active during the day.
Reducing stress through exercise, therapy, or other means.
Dr. Birken recommends a combination of a GABA supplement with melatonin – both are available in our office.
Also, Dr. Douglas Kasper offers telemedicine consults regarding prescriptive cannabis for sleep at https://woodlandscannabisclinic.com/