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In
this photo, a client tries out the sleep technology that not only tracks your
sleeping patterns, but works in concert with a number of features of the Sleep
Number 360 Smart Bed, including a foot warming element, adjustable side
comfort, head and foot raising capability and an analysis of how well a person
slept. A number of companies are incorporating sleep science into products that
help people track and improve the quality of their sleep.
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Pillows that track your snoozing patterns? A bed
that adjusts based on how much you twist and turn? Companies are adding more
technology into their products, hoping to lure customers craving a better
night's sleep.
Insufficient sleep is a public
health concern, federal officials say, with more than one-third of American
adults not getting enough on a regular basis. That can contribute to problems
like obesity and diabetes. And a study published by the Rand Corp. put the
financial loss to U.S. companies at up to US$411 billion a year.
Some specialized businesses are making gadgets
that promise to measure and improve the quality of slumber, while mass-market
retailers like Best Buy are offering simpler ideas like the effect different
lighting can have on falling sleep. But with ever-growing options, people may
find items that are getting more sophisticated - but may still not be accurate.
The interest in sleep has intensified. The number
of sleep centres accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine nearly
tripled from 2000 to 2015, the group says. People are more likely to brag about
how much they spent for a mattress than on their clothes, says Marian Salzman,
CEO of Havas PR North America.
"Sleep is the new status symbol," she
says.
It's a big business. One of the more expensive
products is Sleep Number's 360 Smart Bed, which runs from US$3,449 to US$4,999.
It makes adjustments based on how restless people are while they're sleeping.
The Zeeq pillow, which sells for $299 and is from bedding brand REM-Fit,
monitors snoring and can gently vibrate to nudge someone into a different sleep
position.
"I'm willing to spend more on sleep
technology because it will hopefully help me fall asleep quicker, stay asleep
longer and be more rested when I wake up," says Frank Ribitch, a
self-described gadget junkie from Martinez, California, who tracks his sleep
with apps connected to a Sleep Number bed and the Zeeq pillow.
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In this Friday, July 7, 2017, photo, Sleep Number
store manager Lee Pulliam demonstrates how the company's sleep technology
tracks your sleeping patterns, in addition to the other features of the Sleep
Number 360 Smart Bed, including a foot warming element, adjustable side
comfort, head and foot raising capability and an analysis of how well a person
slept. A number of companies are incorporating sleep science into products that
help people track and improve the quality of their sleep. (AP Photo/Rogelio V.
Solis)
|
Insufficient sleep is a public health concern,
federal officials say, with more than one-third of American adults not getting
enough on a regular basis. That can contribute to problems like obesity and
diabetes. And a study published by the Rand Corp. put the financial loss to
U.S. companies at up to US$411 billion a year.
Finding solutions could be a lucrative
enterprise. Earlier this year Apple Inc. bought Finland-based Beddit, which was
making an app and sleep monitoring device that's placed under the sheet on top
of the mattress. The US$150 sensor begins tracking when a person lies down, and
analyzes data such as the portion of time someone is in bed asleep before
waking up. It also monitors heart rate, temperature, movement - and even
snoring.
"Previously, it was about the sleeping pill
and people didn't want to talk about sleep apnea," Lasse Leppäkorpi,
co-founder and now former CEO of Beddit, said before Apple bought the company.
"Snoring is embarrassing. But this has been untapped opportunity."
Apple, whose own Apple Watch tracks activity and
offers sleep-tracking experiences through third-party apps, declined to talk
about the future of Beddit. Leppakorpi noted before the acquisition that Beddit
had been working with sleep labs like the MIT Lab, which used the devices to
collect data on patients.
At the Stanford Sleep Medicine Centre,
neurologist and medical director Clete A. Kushida tests new therapies and
medications. Over the past two years, the analysis has expanded to wearable
devices. The scientists assess how well the devices match the center's own
overnight sleep studies, which use measures such as heart rate and brain wave
activity to determine the length and the stages of sleep.
Kushida's conclusion? "Consumer wearable
devices are not there in accurately detecting the stages of sleep," he
said. The problem: They focus on motion, which can be deceptive since a person
could be lying in bed awake.
In fact, San Francisco-based startup Hello, the
maker of a product aimed at tracking sleep via a clip attached to a person's
bedsheet, recently announced it was shutting down amid reports the device
didn't correctly track sleep patterns.
Still, Kushida believes the consumer products are
getting better and will be able to accurately monitor and solve sleep issues in
the next five to 10 years.
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This photo provided by REM-Fit shows the Zeeq
pillow, which monitors snoring and can gently vibrate to nudge someone into a
different sleep position. The pillow can also play your favorite music, audio
books and more without disturbing anyone next to you. A number of companies are
adding more technology into their products, hoping to lure customers craving a
better night's sleep.
|
Separate from gadgets, some stores are
highlighting sounds and smells they say can help people sleep better. Longtime
insomniac favorite HSN Inc. offers a US$299 Nightingale Sleep System that masks
indoor and outdoor noises. Best Buy has a Philips Lighting's system that works
with devices like Nest and Amazon Alexa to let people choose the colors and
brightness of lights and program them to turn off at certain times or respond
to the sun.
And a company called Sensorwake is launching a
product in the U.S. that releases smells like fresh linen it says can help you
sleep better.
If nothing worked and you've had a fitful night,
you can at least be woken up more gently. The same company makes a US$99
olfactory alarm clock, with scent options that include a strong espresso. But
if you let it go for three minutes without shutting it off or hitting snooze,
it'll start making noise - good if you have a stuffy nose.
NAIJAGRAPHITTI BLOG is
interested in study of sleep and the effects of lack of or insufficient sleep.
But hard data is scarce for Nigeria. Nevertheless, cursory examination shows
strong links between low productivity to insufficient sleep from other
countries. This means Nigeria with even less ideal conditions including protracted
power outages at night times would have more loss of productivity due to poor
sleep/rest conditions
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Certain kinds of disordered sleep can be a sign
of more serious neurological problems to come. Moodboard / Getty
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Sleep
Disorders Can Give Early Warning Of Parkinson’s Disease
Dysfunctional neurons
implicated in narcolepsy and other sleep disorders may also be involved in
neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia.
Some types of sleep disorders may be precursors
for serious neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, according to
research presented at a conference in Canada this week.
John Peever of the University of Toronto told
the 2017
Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, the annual gathering of the Canadian
Association for Neuroscience, that factors that interfere with dream-sleep
could signal the breakdown of circuits within the brain stem.
Dreaming is associated with rapid eye movement,
or REM, sleep, which is characterized by vivid mental imagery, muscle paralysis
and intense activity in the brain’s cortical region.
However, the processes by which REM sleep is
produced remain poorly understood, and work proceeds on identifying the key
neurons and synaptic relationships involved.
Peever, however, has identified certain cells,
which he dubs REM-active neurons, that seem critical to the process. Using
rats, he and his team established that they are responsible for initiating
dream sleep.
“When we switch on these cells, it causes a rapid
transition into REM sleep,” he said before the meeting.
His research has also established that
dysfunctional REM-active neurons may be implicated in at least two serious
sleep disorders: narcolepsy, and REM sleep behaviour disorder – a condition
that causes people to act out their dreams, sometimes violently.
More than 80% of people with these sleep issues
go on to develop neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s or Lewy body
dementia, he said. The sleep problems, thus, might be useful as early
indicators of neurological vulnerability and provide opportunities for
preventative treatment.
“Our research suggests sleep disorders may be an
early warning sign for diseases that may appear some 15 years later in life,”
he said.
"Much like we see in people prone to cancer, diagnosing REM disorders may allow us to provide individuals with preventative actions to keep them healthy long before they develop these more serious neurological conditions."
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