We often see it as something that is funny and harmless, but snoring is no laughing matter. Snoring, which is defined as “breathing during sleep with hoarse or harsh sounds as caused by the vibrating of the soft palate,” can actually be a marker of sleep apnea or a risk factor for vascular complications such as hypertension. It may lead to daytime dysfunction due to the fragmented sleep that can result from snoring. Headaches, difficulty in concentration, fatigue and reduced work performance may result from snoring. Snoring can also annoy one’s bed partner, whose sleep quality may suffer due to their mate’s snoring.

Why do we snore?

When you inhale during sleep, your soft palate, uvula, or both, may vibrate against the back of the throat or the base of your tongue, producing the vibration noise we refer to as snoring. The vibration is caused by the fluttering of loose tissue as you breathe, making inhalation more difficult. If you snore, it is a clear sign that your breathing passage is partially blocked, resulting in abnormal breathing. Snoring may be extremely loud or very quiet depending on the amount of air that is passing through the breathing passage and the speed at which the throat is vibrating.

Who snores?

37 percent of adults report they had snored at least a few nights a week during the previous year, according to the National Sleep Foundation’s (NSF) 2002 Sleep in America Poll. In fact, 27 percent said that they snore every night or almost every night. There is also a difference between sexes, with males being more likely than females to report snoring at least a few nights a week (42 percent vs. 31 percent).

What causes snoring?

Snoring may occur due to any of a variety of causes, from the common cold to sleep apnea. Although snoring is often a sign of sleep apnea, most snorers do not, in fact, suffer from the disorder. Obesity and a large neck can contribute to snoring. Drinking alcohol before bedtime may cause people to snore more than usual. Snoring also can be caused by an illness or a sleep disorder.

How can we reduce our likelihood of snoring?

There are several different ways to reduce snoring. Here are some tips for reducing your likelihood of snoring.
     •  One of the most effective ways is by weight loss. Reducing your weight reduces the amount of fat deposits
        in the throat, creating a more spacious airway and usually less snoring.
     •  Using nasal strips to gently open your nostrils during sleep, allowing better nasal breathing.
     •  Sleeping on your side with a pillow under your head is the preferable position to alleviate snoring.
     •  Abstaining from alcohol, which relaxes muscles in the airway, at least four hours before bedtime.
     •  Abstaining completely from smoking, which is associated with nasal congestion.
     •  Ask your doctor for recommendations, so he or she can address your specific snoring situation.

About the Expert:
Lee Loree is the inventor and developer of SLEEPTRACKER, an innovative watch device that monitors your sleep patterns throughout the night and continuously looks for the optimum moment to wake you up – waking you refreshed from a light sleep stage. www.sleeptracker.com

Hello! This month, SLEEPTRACKER wants to provide you some simple tips to help you maximize your quality Zzz’s. Do you live a fairly normal lifestyle, but still find that you have difficulty getting a good night sleep? There are minor adjustments you can make to your daily and evening routine to increase your chances of falling asleep more quickly and sleeping well throughout the night. Once you utilize these tips, use SLEEPTRACKER to track your moments of restlessness throughout the night to pinpoint exactly which lifestyle factors were impacting your sleep the most.

Work It Out
If you are in the habit of regular exercise, good for you! If you save your workouts for the evening, be sure to get your workouts in at least two hours before bedtime. If you exercise too close to bedtime, your body may still be screaming with endorphins, making it difficult to fall asleep.

Eat Early
Our bodies work hard to digest what we put in our stomachs. Try to eat dinner at least three hours before you go to bed, allowing enough time for your body and digestive system to mellow out.

Turn Down the Temperature
While you should experiment with your own comfort level, your room should be on the cooler side, with room temperature at 65 to 70 degrees F. Also important is proper ventilation. If at all possible, try to sleep with the window slightly open. Breathing in circulating air will help your body to breathe deeply and correctly.

Turn Off the Tube
Your brain needs time to wind down from all of the day’s activity. Turn off your TV in the bedroom. Whatever program you have on, your brain with be paying attention to the stimulus of the sound, sight and emotion. It is much easier to fall asleep with calming silence.

Slip Into Something More Comfortable
To get the best night’s sleep, it is recommended that you wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothes to bed. Tight and heavy clothing can not only make you hot (waking you up in the middle of the night), but it can also contribute to constricting blood flow to your extremities, waking you with “pins and needles.”

Get a Good Mattress
Since the average person spends nearly one-third of their life in bed, a good mattress is key. A mattress that does not offer enough support for your spine can lead to muscle fatigue and a poor night’s sleep. A good mattress will allow you to maintain the same natural spinal alignment that you have when standing. It is important to turn your mattress frequently to maintain even wear and to give you the best support.

When first awakening in the morning, most people are very groggy and heavily rely on their daily cup (or cups) of coffee to liven them and get them through the morning. A recent study from the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that the grogginess we experience when we first wake up may actually affect our ability to think clearly, known as “sleep inertia.” This study is particularly important for people in careers that require them to think on their feet from the moment they wake up, such as:

     •  Physicians
     •  Military Personnel
     •  Firefighters
     •  Truck Drivers
     •  Pilots

The study involved examining nine people who stayed at a sleep laboratory for several nights. After a full night’s rest, they were awakened and given a simple math test, variations of which were repeated for the next 24 hours. The researchers discovered that the respondents’ performance levels on the math questions were the worst within the first three minutes of being awake. Even more interesting is that cognitive performance in some people can be hindered for up to two hours upon awakening due to sleep inertia and the grogginess that is associated with it.

Dr. William Dement, director of Stanford University’s Sleep Disorder Clinic, called the study “very important” — especially for doctors in training, who are often required to make quick, critical decisions upon awakening. “There are mistakes that are made in the medical field because of fatigue,” he said.

Even though it is essential to our health that we get enough sleep at night, it is also very important that we allow ourselves enough of a transition period from being asleep to awake in order to make decisions efficiently and competently. However, researchers have suggested that the levels of sleep inertia tend to vary depending on the person. There are some people that jump out of bed and are going at full force right away, while other people lethargically wake up, shower and drink at least one or two cups of coffee before they are fully awake.

The reports on sleep inertia are of particular interest to us at Innovative Sleep Solutions, as SLEEPTRACKER provides a way for people to avoid sleep inertia all together by waking them from a light sleep stage. We will continue to closely monitor studies of sleep inertia - we believe our product can truly help combat it and make the transition from asleep to awake a little easier.

About the Expert:
Lee Loree is the inventor and developer of SLEEPTRACKER, an innovative watch device that monitors your sleep patterns throughout the night and continuously looks for the optimum moment to wake you up – waking you refreshed from a light sleep stage. www.sleeptracker.com

Hello! This month, SLEEPTRACKER wants you to recognize the symptoms of sleep disorders. According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, between 50 and 70 million Americans battle sleep disorders, resulting in billions of dollars of medical expenses, lost productivity, and accidents. If you think you may be suffering from a disorder, please consult a medical professional. If you are diagnosed with a disorder, use SLEEPTRACKER to track your moments of restlessness throughout the night and evaluate the effectiveness of your prescribed treatments.

Sleep Apnea - a disorder that is characterized by periods of breathing cessation during the night. This results in a lack of oxygen and is usually accompanied by loud snoring. People suffer from three types of sleep apnea: Obstructive, Central and Mixed. You may be suffering from sleep apnea if you experience a combination of loud snoring, morning headaches, waking in the night with a feeling of choking or night sweats. Treatments include the use of a CPAP machine (a positive airway pressure machine worn to bed to ensure continuous breathing), surgery, and reducing risk factors like obesity and smoking.

Narcolepsy – a chronic neurological disorder characterized by Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS). The brain is unable to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally, resulting in disturbed nocturnal sleep. Those suffering from narcolepsy may fall asleep in a variety of settings, often at inappropriate times. Symptoms include frequent, irresistible daytime naps, sudden loss of muscle function, sleep paralysis and vivid hallucinations while falling asleep or awakening. While its cause is unknown and there is no cure for narcolepsy, there are several treatment options. Pharmaceuticals combined with behavior modification to improve the quality of nighttime sleep are the most common treatment.

Insomnia – a disorder characterized by an inability to sleep or remain asleep for a reasonable time period. During the daytime hours, insomniacs often experience excessive fatigue and trouble concentrating. Three types of insomnia exist and are based on how long one experiences restless nights: transient (1 night-3 weeks); acute (3 weeks- 6 months); and chronic. Insomnia’s causes are widely varied; it can be related to a serious medical condition such as cancer, drugs, stress, or a poor sleeping environment. In order to treat insomnia, it is necessary to discover and address its underlying cause.

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) – a neurological disorder characterized by unpleasant sensations in the legs, accompanied by an uncontrollable urge to move them for relief. Sitting or lying down aggravates symptoms, resulting in an interference with normal daily activities and sleep. You may have RLS if you feel like your legs are burning or have insects crawling inside of them. The cause of RLS remains unknown in most cases; in others it can be attributed to a family history of the disorder. Lifestyle changes, along with medications, are the most common methods of treatment.

Have you ever woken up from a dream and were shocked at how realistic it seemed? Most often, those dreams are just extremely vivid in our minds and are only mental in nature. There are some people, however, who suffer from REM Behavior Disorder (RBD) and actually physically act out their dreams. People with RBD will physically engage in the dream activity, moving limbs and getting out of bed to act out their dream sequence.

RBD is typically (and obviously!) noticed if there is a sleeping partner present or if the RBD actually causes harm to the person affected – such as scratches or bruises. In order to understand why some people have RBD, you must first understand REM sleep. During the REM state of sleep, the electrical activity of the brain looks similar to the electrical activity that occurs during waking. Interestingly, REM sleep is also characterized by temporary muscle paralysis. These two very different states are usually experienced at different times and there is a neurological “wall” between them allowing for little confusion. People who have RBD are often void of this “wall,” making the line between the two states very blurry. So, for most people experiencing vivid dreams, their bodies are still. But, persons with RBD lack this muscle paralysis, allowing them to act out their dreams during the REM stage of sleep.

The lack of separation in REM sleep is still a mystery to sleep physicians and research is currently being done to fully understand RBD. If you are unsure about the amount of quality sleep you are getting per night, use SLEEPTRACKER to track your sleep patterns to gain insight.

About the Expert:
Lee Loree is the inventor and developer of SLEEPTRACKER, an innovative watch device that monitors your sleep patterns throughout the night and continuously looks for the optimum moment to wake you up – waking you refreshed from a light sleep stage. www.sleeptracker.com