{"id":469,"date":"2023-05-18T10:16:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T10:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/?p=469"},"modified":"2023-06-19T22:17:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T22:17:06","slug":"stages-of-sleep-and-their-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/18\/stages-of-sleep-and-their-role\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stages of Sleep & Their Importance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It should go without saying, but sleep is crucial to your overall health. Nightly snoozing gives your body the physical and mental perks it needs to function. Unfortunately, sleep apnea<\/a> can disrupt this routine by interfering with the typical sleep stages. You\u2019d then suffer a noticeable dip in your quality of life. As for the evidence of these claims, your Kittanning dentist can explain. Here, then, are the stages of sleep and how sleep apnea disrupts them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What are the Stages of Sleep?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In truth, there are four stages in your body\u2019s sleep cycle. They are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stage 1 \u2013 Falling Asleep<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Put simply, the first stage of the cycle is the transition from wakefulness to sleep; it usually lasts just one to seven minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your brain is still relatively active at this stage, so it\u2019s the lightest form of sleep. Still, \u201cstage 1\u201d sleep does cause your heartbeat, eye movements, and breathing to slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stage 2 \u2013 Light Sleep<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The second stage puts your body into a more subdued state. Its typical duration is 20 minutes per cycle. Overall, you spend about half your total time asleep in this stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to \u201cstage 1\u201d sleep, \u201cstage 2\u201d sleep is deeper. It makes you less aware of your surroundings, lowers your body temperature, and stops eye movements. The phase also involves rhythmic brain activity, which helps you filter the previous day\u2019s memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stage 3 \u2013 Deep Sleep<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Also known as \u201cdeep\u201d or delta sleep, stage three is where you get the deepest sleep. During the early cycles, it commonly lasts 20-40 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point in your sleep, your body begins doing physical repairs. It may also bolster your immune system and other vital processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stage 4 \u2013 REM Sleep<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The final stage of a given sleep cycle is REM sleep. This sleep phase involves \u201crapid eye movement,\u201d where your eyes jerk in various directions. You don\u2019t enter it until you\u2019ve slept for about 90 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REM sleep is considered essential to cognitive functions like memory, learning, and creativity. Naturally, that means it\u2019s also known for featuring vivid dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Disruptive Effects of Sleep Apnea<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Normally, you move through the four sleep stages smoothly and seamlessly. When you have sleep apnea, though, things are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, those with sleep apnea struggle to move into deeper sleep stages. The result is that your physical and mental health suffer. In particular, your risk of pain, heart disease, brain fog, and similar issues increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, you don\u2019t want sleep apnea to disrupt the stages of sleep. That being said, consider talking to your dentist about how to manage it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Voller Dentistry<\/a> is based in Kittanning, PA<\/em>. Led by Dr. Ray Voller<\/a>,<\/em> our practice strives to give each patient the best dental work possible<\/em>! To that end, we perform preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, as well as emergency oral procedures. You can even trust us to provide you with effective sleep apnea therapy. For more information or to book a visit, just reach us on <\/em>our website<\/em><\/a> or by phone at (724)-543-4948<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It should go without saying, but sleep is crucial to your overall health. Nightly snoozing gives your body the physical and mental perks it needs to function. Unfortunately, sleep apnea can disrupt this routine by interfering with the typical sleep stages. You\u2019d then suffer a noticeable dip in your quality of life. As for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":472,"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions\/472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vollersmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}