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’d 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.
What are the Stages of Sleep?
In truth, there are four stages in your body’s sleep cycle. They are the following:
Stage 1 – Falling Asleep
Put simply, the first stage of the cycle is the transition from wakefulness to sleep; it usually lasts just one to seven minutes.
Your brain is still relatively active at this stage, so it’s the lightest form of sleep. Still, “stage 1” sleep does cause your heartbeat, eye movements, and breathing to slow.
Stage 2 – Light Sleep
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.
Compared to “stage 1” sleep, “stage 2” 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’s memories.
Stage 3 – Deep Sleep
Also known as “deep” or delta sleep, stage three is where you get the deepest sleep. During the early cycles, it commonly lasts 20-40 minutes.
At this point in your sleep, your body begins doing physical repairs. It may also bolster your immune system and other vital processes.
Stage 4 – REM Sleep
The final stage of a given sleep cycle is REM sleep. This sleep phase involves “rapid eye movement,” where your eyes jerk in various directions. You don’t enter it until you’ve slept for about 90 minutes.
REM sleep is considered essential to cognitive functions like memory, learning, and creativity. Naturally, that means it’s also known for featuring vivid dreams.
The Disruptive Effects of Sleep Apnea
Normally, you move through the four sleep stages smoothly and seamlessly. When you have sleep apnea, though, things are different.
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.
Ultimately, you don’t want sleep apnea to disrupt the stages of sleep. That being said, consider talking to your dentist about how to manage it.
About the Practice
Voller Dentistry is based in Kittanning, PA. Led by Dr. Ray Voller, our practice strives to give each patient the best dental work possible! 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 our website or by phone at (724)-543-4948.