(WXYZ) — In today’s Health Alert, new research suggests that hitting the snooze button on your morning alarm won't hurt your health. The study was published in the Journal of Sleep Research and found that snoozing doesn't affect the quality of sleep or thinking abilities.
I’m not a snooze person but I know many people who are. And this sounds like positive news for them.
Now, the research involved two studies. The first study looked at the habits of 1,732 adults. 69% of them reported setting multiple alarms or using the snooze button at least some of the time. Now, these snooze sessions varied from 1 minute to 180 minutes. But overall, the average was 22 minutes per morning, with many reporting falling back to sleep in between alarms. Also, the snoozers tended to be younger and more likely to identify as night owls, not early birds.
As for the second study, it focused on 31 participants. They spent three nights in a lab and had cognitive and cortisol levels tested. Researchers found that after hitting snooze over a period of 30 minutes, the group lost only about 6 minutes of sleep. And, it didn't seem to affect stress hormones, morning tiredness, mood, or the quality of their overnight sleep. Some of the participants even performed better on cognitive tasks after snoozing compared to waking up immediately.
The most common reason people reported hitting the snooze button was because they felt too tired. Interestingly, two other reasons people hit snooze were "it feels good," and it lets them wake up more gently. This makes sense. It seems to help some individuals transition from deep sleep to a lighter stage, making it easier to get out of bed.
Now, while some snoozing seems harmless, it's important to make sure you’re getting enough sleep overall. Because consistent poor sleep can have a detrimental impact on your health. According to American College of Cardiology research, around 8% of deaths could be linked to unhealthy sleep patterns. On the flip side, getting enough high-quality sleep can potentially extend your lifespan, as it affects both heart and overall health.
Wrapping up, if you like hitting the snooze button, it doesn't appear to impact your day if it’s 30 minutes or less. And it might even help night owls think more clearly and feel more awake upon rising. So that old saying “you snooze, you lose” may no longer be true anymore!
This week on the Dr. Nandi Show
Some men and women spend their whole lives dreaming about their perfect family, but for some, this ideal is much more challenging to achieve. If couples are unable to have a child, they often feel lost and confused and are left wondering if it is their fault. In this touching episode, Dr. Partha Nandi, MD delves into the medical factors contributing to infertility. He speaks to a husband and wife who experienced this struggle and discovered they would need infertility treatments in order to have children. Also, Jill Blakeway, author of Making Babies, explains the different holistic methods of infertility treatment and explores various global perspectives on the underlying causes of infertility. Tune in this Sunday, October 22nd at 5 pm.
