The Cleveland Clinic report highlights that not all sleep is the same, and that how a night’s slumber ends can be a big clue as to your overall wellbeing. “Much of the latter part of our sleep cycle is comprised of REM sleep, or dream sleep, which is a restorative sleep state,” Reena Mehra, MD, the director of Sleep Disorders Research at Cleveland Clinic, said in a statement. “And so, if you’re hitting the snooze button, then you’re disrupting that REM sleep or dream sleep.” But why does this matter? Well, every night, you go through two basic types of sleep, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and non-REM sleep. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes non-REM sleep as moving through three stages: Stage 1. When you changeover from wakefulness to sleep; Stage 2. When you go into light sleep; and Stage 3. When you go into the deepest level of sleep for the longest period. You cycle through these three varieties several times in the night, spending the most time in Stage 2, but Stage 3 is the type that leaves you feeling fully refreshed in the morning.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb By contrast, REM sleep first occurs about 90 minutes after you fall asleep. “Your eyes move rapidly from side to side behind closed eyelids,” the experts at the institute explain. “Your breathing becomes faster and irregular, and your heart rate and blood pressure increase to near waking levels. Most of your dreaming occurs during REM sleep, although some can also occur in non-REM sleep. Your arm and leg muscles become temporarily paralyzed, which prevents you from acting out your dreams.” This is where the problem with the snooze button comes in—while going in and out of REM sleep. With an already heightened level of alertness, disrupting this sleep with an alarm at 10-minute intervals can cause a “fight or flight” response, raising your blood pressure and heartbeat, while being too short an interval to allow for restful slumber. Over time, as the National Health Service warns, insufficient restful sleep can contribute to weight gain, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, a weakened immune system, and diabetes. RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. “Make sure you’re getting seven to eight hours of sufficient sleep and good quality sleep,” said Mehra. “And if that’s happening, and someone still feels the need to hit that snooze button, then they should probably see their physician to make sure there’s no undiagnosed sleep disorder that could be contributing to their need to hit the snooze.” And for more bad habits to ditch when it comes to sleep, find out The Things You’re Doing That Would Horrify Sleep Doctors.
