{"id":150,"date":"2021-05-12T00:22:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T00:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/?p=150"},"modified":"2021-06-15T00:25:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T00:25:06","slug":"4-stages-of-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/12\/4-stages-of-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of the 4 Stages of Sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Woman<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Whenever you fall asleep, there\u2019s quite a lot going on in your brain and body. There are 4 distinct stages of sleep, and you need to go through each one of them to reap the full benefits of a good night\u2019s rest; if the cycle is interrupted by sleep apnea, then you won\u2019t be enjoying a proper full night\u2019s rest no matter how early you went to bed. Take the time to learn more about the different stages of sleep and why you should take every possible step to make sure that your body can complete the cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Stages 1 and 2: Light Sleep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you first fall asleep, you always start at stage 1 of the sleep cycle regardless of how tired you are. At this stage, eye movements will start to slow down, but the body will still be somewhat alert; a loud noise or another outside stimuli could easily wake you up. When you get to stage 2, the brain starts producing special waves called sleep spindles, which are thought to help prevent you from waking up too early. This particular stage often takes up half of the sleep cycle. Together, stages 1 and 2 are considered to be \u201clight sleep\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stage 3: Deep Sleep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you reach the third stage of sleep, it\u2019s much harder to wake you up, hence why this stage is known as \u201cdeep sleep.\u201d It\u2019s at this point that the restorative benefits of sleep kick in. The body will start repairing damaged muscles and tissues, and it will produce special substances called cytokines that strengthen the immune system. This stage serves an additional purpose for children and teenagers: it encourages proper growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stage 4: REM Sleep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The final stage of sleep is often called REM sleep, which is short for \u201crapid eye movement sleep.\u201d The eyes start to jerk in various directions due to specific brain activity, and your heart rate and blood pressure will both rise. This stage is essential for maintaining long-term memory, as it\u2019s the point where the brain consolidates the information that you learned the day before. After REM sleep is complete, you\u2019ll return to stage 1, and the cycle will repeat until you wake up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Uninterrupted Sleep Is Important<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re constantly waking up during the night, then your body will never reach stages 3 and 4 of the sleep cycle. Since these are the stages that are most important for restoring energy and maintaining mental functions, skipping them takes a toll on your physical and mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is sleep apnea or another disorder interrupting your sleep? Call a professional right away to have a proper diagnosis performed. It\u2019s up to you to make sure that the sleep cycle is completed so that you\u2019re at your best when you wake up in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Author<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Mitch Conditt<\/a> was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea in 2009 and found long-lasting relief with oral appliance therapy. Since that time, he has decided to put his 35 years of dental experience to good use helping his patients overcome their own sleep disorders. If you\u2019re concerned that sleep apnea is frequently interrupting your sleep cycle, schedule a consultation with Dr. Conditt by visiting his website<\/a> or calling (817) 527-8500.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whenever you fall asleep, there\u2019s quite a lot going on in your brain and body. There are 4 distinct stages of sleep, and you need to go through each one of them to reap the full benefits of a good night\u2019s rest; if the cycle is interrupted by sleep apnea, then you won\u2019t be enjoying […]<\/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-150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}