Getting smarter with sleep

When the day affects the night

Often, it’s not that people don’t recognize the impact that sleep has on their overall health – for many, life simply gets in the way. According to the Philips Global Sleep Survey, only 46% of global adults say they follow a regular set schedule for bedtime⁴, which can result in irregular and often inadequate sleep duration. This can create a disruptive cycle of mental and physical effects, including fatigue, moodiness or irritability, feeling unmotivated and experiencing a lack of concentration.

Equally, pre-existing medical conditions play a contributing role for many who experience sleep disruption. Sleep deprivation and disorders are becoming more and more prevalent worldwide - according to the global sleep survey, over 60% of adults have a medical condition that impacts their rest⁵, and more than 100 million people worldwide suffer from sleep apnea, 80% of whom remain undiagnosed. Overall, the global prevalence of difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep is predicted to be around 30%.⁶ In addition, the aging process can have an impact on sleep, with individuals above age 50 demonstrating steadily declining quantities of slow wave sleep⁷.

Inadequate sleep can have an immediate impact on our wellbeing unlike exercise or diet. Philips annual sleep survey shows that, despite knowing sleep is important to overall health, people are still struggling to address it in the same way they would exercise or nutrition. The more we understand how sleep impacts everything we do, the better we can adjust our lifestyle and find solutions that help us get better sleep.

Waking up to new technology

Consumer sleep technology has faced a rapid evolution over the last few years, and we are seeing huge growth in innovations for both hospital and home care. We now understand a lot more about the biology of sleep and the pathophysiology of the various sleep disorders. Thus we have novel and better ways now to treat many of the sleep disorders, and are learning ways to enhance sleep even when there is no fundamental problem, for example by enhancing slow wave sleep.

Emerging technologies range from mattresses that can sense movements throughout the night to Wi-Fi enabled pillows that connect with smart home devices, plus technologies such as Philips Smart Sleep, which uses auditory stimulation to enhance slow-wave sleep for better quality rest for those who do not get enough sleep due to lifestyle.

Innovations are also allowing more effective diagnosis of conditions such as sleep apnea, through sophisticated, disposable devices that can diagnose and quantify the severity of the disorder. Technology and science are now also guiding us to a much better understanding of the causes of sleep apnea and the different treatments that are needed to address the different phenotypes of apnea patients. Using machine learning techniques, the phenotypic traits can be derived from standard sleep testing, which should make it easier to personalize care for patients.

The good news is that people all over the world recognize the need to improve their sleep – over 75% of adults have tried to improve their sleep through music, science and more8 – and will likely be receptive to emerging technologies that can help them to achieve better sleep.