Building Bone Health as You Age

Tracking Sleep: Is It Worth It?

 Due to the differences in the level and robustness of sleep tracking devices, users can expect data such as heart rate, movement, body temperature, and blood oxygen levels. From this data, the monitors claim to provide useful information such as predictions of deep sleep during the night or a total sleep score that represents overall rest quality. Scientists who track these systems say that while this data has its value, it is considered conventional and warn that they are not a solution for insomnia or other sleep problems. Here's what you should know about the capabilities and limitations of these monitors.

Many mobile devices collect data using the term photoplethysmography, or PPG. On the back of the device, a tiny light shines through the blood vessels and uses the reflected light volumes to calculate data like heart rate and its variability, reported Cathy Goldstein, a clinical assistant professor of neurology at the University of Michigan who is researching sleep monitors for consumers. Goldstein said that most wearable devices, and many near-ear devices, have accelerometers that can measure movement.

What do sleep trackers track?

Sleep monitors placed under the mattress (or, in the case of some smart beds, inside the mattress) use ballistocardiography, a technology, as Goldstein explained, that detects tiny movements produced by the heart's pumping, which correlate with sleep and its stages. Researchers have found, in fact, that sleep monitors usually only detect the most basic thing: whether a person is asleep or awake. But Goldstein argues that these devices may be less accurate when measuring the pulse rate of people with statistical obesity or heart rhythm disorders, and those with darker skin tones.

Dark areas, since the pigment can affect how light reflects off the device. But even if the data collection were perfect, many experts argue that many of these kinds of technologies miss the point when trying to translate the findings into something useful for the consumer. They're presented at a level of detail that we're not yet in a position to do, Goldstein said. For example, the sleep monitors many of us own already report on the user's sleep stages, such as REM and Deep sleep, these stages defined by changing chords of brain activity, something most devices can't measure directly.

Is sleep-tracking data reliable?

Inferring sleep quality and its phases of restlessness from peripheral signals such as pulse and respiration has some inherent limitations when the person is not healthy," said Mathias Baumert, associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Adelaide in Australia and an expert in health technology. It's also not clear what benefit it would provide. "We don't establish a diagnosis related to the "The baseline sleep pattern of REM or deep sleep," warned Kelly Baron, a behavioral psychologist and director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine program at the University of Utah.

But she determined that even people/other people who sleep well have different REM or deep sleep patterns due to age, illness, sex, medications, among other variables. I have patients who come in and tell me they're worried because the datagram keeps telling them they're not getting enough sleep because of it, but I couldn't even tell them how many REM sleep patterns they have, just by choosing the optimal sleep pattern.

Don’t focus too much on the data you get

That's exactly what Osorio suggested, and that's what Osorio pointed out. The fact that the good choice of devices influences not only sleep but also a person's overall health, and precisely those factors add filtered noise to a large straw when sleep monitors are used. The pre-marking applied by Repsol during the recycling processes can be inaugurated in the following weeks if the program is not attended within 25 days. A simple measure is nice from a consumer perspective, Baumert pointed out, but it's difficult to understand what we're measuring and what those scores mean in terms of health outcomes and disease.

Goldstein was more clear: "Those sleep or sleep readiness scores are the worst. I tell my patients that ignoring them when they're relevant to them is something they like." This is how they create their veto power, never to go around slapping people around," Su says indignantly, believing "a hidden priest is never interactive (clap) he does work as a healer. Care and how to use them Among the advantages of sleep monitors are their ability to identify and record long-term data in a person's actual sleeping environment. No matter how sensitive the equipment is, a person's sleep is not a good idea.

Conclusion

When it comes to the differences between light sleep aids and deep sleep aids, studies show that activity trackers are insufficient. Instead of relying on your device to determine how well you sleep, consider using a baseline to rate your sleep quality and comfort, as well as how you feel when you wake up. If you feel like you're not sleeping well and it's a problem that affects your daily life, then it would be wise to correct those deep sleep habits or perhaps undergo a sleep assessment.

Sleep trackers, whether wristband or app-based, not only measure how much we spend, but also how much sleep we have. These watches generally provide data on sleep and wake periods. Others also assess light or deep sleep, as well as how often someone wakes up during the night and how long they stay awake. Although manufacturers don't provide information about the technology these devices use to prevent tracking, it generally appears that most of them use motion detection.

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