A simple take home sleep test can show us a great deal of information for example:
- What is the heart rate doing while you sleep?
- How loud are you snoring measured in decibels?
- What is the level of oxygen desaturation?
- What is the percentage of sleep stages – light, REM, non-REM, awake?
- A measure of arousals which means the number of times your nervous system switched to “Fight or Flight” mode.
Some of the data can surprise us!
During DEEP sleep or also known as non-REM sleep, the body's systems undergo essential processes that help to repair and rejuvenate cells, regulate hormone levels, and consolidate memories. Without adequate non-rem sleep, these functions are disrupted, leading to a host of health issues such as weakened immune system, increased risk of heart disease and stroke, weight gain, and impaired cognitive function.
Snoring and airway play a crucial role in affecting deep sleep, and this makes for a great discussion with your dentist. How often do you wake up with a loud snore? This could mean that your sleep cycle got disrupted by closing off of the airway. You never made it through the full cycle: awake, light sleep, REM sleep, then non-REM sleep.
Are there contributing factors like crowding of teeth, large tongue, can’t breathe through your nose, frequent colds and flus, migraines, daytime fatigue etc and SLEEP APNEA? This does not mean that you are doomed to wear a CPAP machine for the rest of your life. There might just be one thing that can be corrected to open up the airflow and make a great deal of impact on your quality of sleep. It is worth a discussion with your dentist.