Insomnia: Sleep Disorder > 5 Stages Of Sleep And Sleep Disorder
5 Stages of sleep will show you the process of your sleep at night and how sleep disorder affect your sleep cycle.
Your healthy sleep at night takes place in cycles made up of five stages. Here is what usually happens during normal sleep in each of these cycles,
Stage 1
You dozes off in a light sleep while drifting in and out of sleep, still aware of your surroundings.
You can be easily awakened. This stage lasts for ten minutes.
Stage 2
50 percent of your sleep is spent in Stage 2. Your awareness starts to fades away.
In Stage 2, your eyes movement stops and your body temperature drops. Breathing, heart rates and brain activities slowed down.
Stage 3
Stage 3 is the first stage of your deep sleep.
In Stage 3, it will be very difficult to wake you up. But, when you eventually awakened, you will feel groggy and disoriented for a few minutes.
Your heart and breathing rates continue to slow down. There will be some brain activities during this stage.
Stage 4
Stage 4 is the second stage of your deep sleep.
Both stages 3 and 4 of deep sleep are important to you, as you will feel refreshed and well rested when you wake up in the morning.
Your blood pressure decreases. Your heart and breathing rates continue to slow down.
In Stage 4, cell repair takes place throughout your body and your brain directs various organs to release hormones related to growth, appetite and sexual characteristics.
REM Sleep – Rapid Eye Movement
REM sleep stage is when your dream takes place. Your eyes move rapidly back and forth while your eyelids closed.
Your breathing and heart rates increases and blood pressure rises. This sleep phase begins around 70 to 90 minutes after you fall asleep.
During your sleep, you begin at stage 1 and go through each stage until you reach REM sleep. Each complete sleep cycle takes between 90 to 110 minutes.
Your brain acts differently in each stage of sleep.
In some stages, your muscles will be totally relaxed and your body is still except for some twitching.
Sleep Disorder
Sleep disorders disrupt two important systems (Homeostasis and Circadian Rhythm) that influence your sleep wake cycle.
Homeostasis
Homeostasis drives you to sleep when they feel tired.
It keeps your body temperature, blood pressure and body chemistry in a balanced, healthy state.
Circadian Rhythm or Biological Clock
Light and darkness control the circadian rhythm or the biological clock in your body.
Light coming in through your eyes triggers this clock and tells your body that it is daytime and time to wake up.
At night when no light comes in, your brain pineal gland, releases melatonin. This chemical makes you feel sleepy.
You will feel fully rested when homeostasis and circadian rhythm are in sync. That is when normal, refreshing sleep occurs.
When you have a sleep disorder, these systems may be out of sync.
For example, if you take a long nap during the day, your homeostatic need for sleep will not trigger as you are fully rested during the day and you are not feeling tired yet at your usual or natural bedtime.
Definitive guide to your Sleep Disorders:
7 Smart Ways to Help You Get a Good Night's Rest
Posted by: Mo Salle
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Insomnia: Sleep Disorder > Can Tart Cherry Juice Cure Insomnia?
Drinking Tart Cherry Juice daily helps you to sleep at night.
Besides taking sleeping pills to sleep, there is another alternative
way to cure you from your difficulty getting to sleep at night.
This natural alternative can be added to food or drinks and is available in capsules.
How can Tart Cherry Juice help you to sleep?
Tart Cherry juice contains high concentration of melatonin, a key molecule that regulates your sleep-awake cycles in your body.
Melatonin makes you relax and help you to sleep at night.
Tart cherry juice drink can enhanced your sleep and you will be fresh and alert upon waking up the next day.
Mixed concentrated tart cherry juice with water and you will have a delicious healthy drink.
When you regularly consumed tart cherry juice, your natural sleep cycle will be more regulated and you can fall asleep easily.
Research done on Tart Cherry
To prove that Tart Cherry Juice can indeed help you to sleep, researchers from The University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester and the VA Center of Canandaigua in New York tested Tart cherry by giving 15 adults with insomnia 8 ounces of tart cherry juice beverage in the morning and evening for two weeks.
After 2 weeks of testing, the participants suffered less from insomnia and most are able to enjoy a good night sleep after drinking cherry juice. The test shows a significant reduction in insomnia severity. HealthNews
Russel J. Reiter, a biomedical scientist at the University of Texas Health Science Center, who is an authority on melatonin said that when consumed regularly, tart cherries can regulate your body natural sleep cycle and increase your sleep efficiency, including decreasing the time it takes for you to fall asleep.
A study published in the European Journal of Nutrition suggested that tart cherry juice is an effective remedy to natural sleep and insomnia.
In another research conducted by an international team of researchers from Northumbria University gave healthy adults two glasses of tart cherry juice every day for several days, once early in the morning and another just before bed time.
The result shows that the healthy adult slept soundly and 39 minutes longer. PubMed
These studies provided evidence that tart cherry juice concentrate could be a viable and cost effective treatment for your sleep problem or insomnia.
Other Benefit
Researchers also noted that tart cherry contain anthocyanins, the pigments that give the cherries its bright crimson color.
Anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants compounds widely known to prevent and reverse free radical damage throughout your body. WebMD
Tart cherry juice is a natural way to cure your insomnia.
Drinking this beverage daily can help you cure your insomnia and sleep problems.
Regardless what caused your Insomnia, whether it’s due to fatigue, depression, stress, chronic diseases or even unknown causes, studies show that the juice of a tart cherry can help you enjoy a natural night of sleep.
Posted by: Mo Salle
Links to the headlines
Cherry Juice Could Cure Lack Of Sleep Daily Express, July 14 2010
Cherry Juice The Sweet Solution For Insomnias? Daily Mail, July 14 2010
Read Related Articles:
• Why Do Men Feel Sleepy After Sex?
• 5 Stages Of Sleep And Sleep Disorder
• 10 Tips To Sleep Soundly Tonight
• How To Fall Asleep Quickly?
• Insomnia Is A Sleeping Disorder
• 6 Reasons Why You Snore
• 9 Causes Why You Cannot Sleep
• 5 Benefits Of Waking Up Early In The Morning
• Lack Of Sleep Can Cause Weight Gain
• How Much Of Sleep Do You Really Need?
• 3 Ways How Smoking Affect Your Sleep
