This is the first known large scale continuous Sleep Apnea study. Sleep Apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder. It causes breathing to repeatedly stop and start during sleep. Studies have found a direct correlation between High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Stroke, Heart-Attack, and Apnea. In a large study of more than 30,000 sleepers, the data shows that more than 14% of the sleepers experienced serious sleep apnea at least one night a week. There are effective therapies for apnea. The diagnosis must come first. There are several types of sleep apnea, but the most common is obstructive sleep apnea. This type of apnea occurs when your throat muscles intermittently relax and block your airway during sleep. A noticeable sign of obstructive sleep apnea is snoring.

COVID-19 Distancing: More Sleep, Slower Average Heart Rate!

Here are the first complete three years of large clinical-grade sleep studies covering over 10 million recorded nights of sleep in high-fidelity. Three years of sleep information gives us reasonable assurances that the "abnormal" sleep and physiological patterns in 2020 may be correlated to the novel-Coronavirus pandemic. Some key findings include an initial increase in sleep duration with shelter-in-place. That pattern then tapers off but continues as the economy re-opens. The small increase in continuous heart-rate throughout the night may point to the fact that although the pandemic creates a very stressful environment and therefore would tend to elevate heart-rates, longer sleep duration may more than compensate. The longer sleep duration is also correlated with flexible work schedules, school schedules, and more.

We looked at three years of data and broke it down by latitude tranches. The data clearly shows seasonality as well as the influence of latitude on actual sleep duration. Now observing 2020 we can see the significant impact that the coronavirus pandemic and shelter-in-place are having on our sleep. Studies show that both ambient temperature and circadian rhythms are important factors for sleep quality. Note that in the summer for any given time zone and longitude, daylight lasts later in the higher latitudes. For example, sunset, today in San Diego, is about 7:30 while in Seattle it's 8:30, Pacific. The 2018 and 2019 data shows what is "normal" on average. The 2020 dataset shows the Coronavirus induced singularities.

This history allowed us to compare 2020 sleep patterns to historic 2019 and 2018 sleep patterns. Three years of data now clearly confirm that in 2020 during shelter-in-place, on average, we sleep more, go to bed later, and wake up later.

As we gradually reopen the patterns seem to trend to normalize.

COVID-19 Pattern study: After reading this piece from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/07/coronavirus-deadlier-than-many-believed-infection-fatality-rate-cvd/

We looked at the data to see whether for some key typical states there was a measurable difference in people traveling away from their homes. The data shows that there is a significant difference between states such as California, New York, and states like Florida and Texas.

With the power of several million nights of PSG-grade sleep information anonymized in the cloud (over 100 million nights of sleep) and the built-in Sleeptracker®-AI analytics, we looked at the impact of COVID-19 on snoring. Snoring is a very important metric as it is typically a precursor of serious conditions such as apnea or COPD. The Data shows that during shelter-in-place, on average, we sleep more, but, and that is very intriguing, we snore less. When we drilled down into how different this is for females and males we were very surprised to see the differences As we gradually reopen, the patterns seem to trend to normalize. The spikes are weekends when, on average, we tend to go to bed later and rise later. The Fullpower contact-less bio-sensing solution, like PSG, can actually correlate metrics such as AHI (Apnea-Hypopnea Index), which opens fascinating research opportunities given our very large multi-year PSG-grade sleep dataset.

With the power of several years of PSG-grade sleep information anonymized in the cloud (over 100 million nights of sleep) and the built-in Sleeptracker®-AI analytics, we compared 2020 sleep patterns to historic 2019 sleep patterns. The Data shows that during shelter-in-place, on average, we sleep more, go to bed later, and wake up later compared to the same period of time in 2019. As we gradually reopen, the patterns seem to trend to normalize. The spikes are weekends when, on average, we tend to go to bed later and rise later.

As the US economy reopens, we looked at the anonymized data to find some indicators of behavioral changes. The metric that we used was to look at the sleeping habits before, during, and after shelter-in-place. During shelter-in-place most stayed put. When reopening happened patterns started to trend towards normalized. What is remarkable is the impact of Memorial day weekend. We will continue to monitor these trends.

COVID-19: Previously we showed that with shelter-in-place on average we sleep longer, get more REM sleep, get less deep sleep and we snore less. We looked at the data to see whether shelter-in-place had changed the number of times we had gotten out of bed each night and/or how long we stayed out of bed. We looked at each age group. We went through more than half a million nights of sleep and could not measure a difference. It may be because of our out-of-bed events, as the data shows are more a function of aging and some chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Of course, we are continuing to look at the data as shelter-in-place gets eased and new normality develops. Sleep is one-third of our lives and a great indicator of our overall wellness and stress levels as well as some chronic health conditions. What we saw in the data is that as we age, males tend to have more disrupted sleep than females. However, younger females tend to have more disrupted sleep than males.

Previously we reported that the data shows, before and after shelter-in-place, our sleep patterns changed. On average we sleep longer get more REM sleep but get less deep sleep. In this analysis, we look at the data and observe that since sheltering-in-place we snore less. That's true for females and males. Males tend to snore more than females as the analytics shows and Snore is a precursor to apnea and COPD.

The www.fullpower.com solution can pinpoint apnea, asthma, COPD. For this infographic, there are potentially several explanations for the decrease in snoring. Scientifically, we learned that snoring tends to happen more during deeper sleep phases. Therefore less deep sleep could correlate to less snoring although we sleep longer with shelter-in-place. Of course, all of this needs to be investigated farther. The data shows that on average for both females and males shelter-in-place has decreased snoring! This study is based on over 300,000+ nights of recorded and analyzed sleep by Sleeptracker®-AI. The peaks are the weekends and the troughs are the weekdays in both sleep and snoring.

A silver lining: Following the COVID-19 shelter-in-place directives we are getting more of much-needed sleep! This should help strengthen our immune system and improve our health! The data may also show that people's bedtime hasn't changed much, but with fewer constraints, schools closed and many workplaces closed, people, in general, have relaxed their wakeup time. We will look into this more. Stay tuned! More information at www.fullpower.com

Coronavirus and such future events are important. Of course, the flu, colds, and recovery are part of our daily lives. Our Sleeptracker-AI tools looked at our sleep vitals in a multiyear aggregation. We used Sleeptracker labeled data and Fullpower's AI-powered supervised machine learning tools to help us interpolate, extrapolate and perhaps anticipate!

For the first time in 50 years, Kansas City fans enjoyed an extraordinary evening. Their sleep stats showed for celebration. Congratulations!

Can you see a correlation with the phases of the moon? Are we still connected from an evolutionary perspective? What do you think the data shows? You can see singularities on New Years and Super Bowl night for sure. But moon phases have little to do with them!

We analyzed Sleeptracker data for the last several years. For accuracy, we are always reminded that www.fullpower.com is operating polysomnography labs using Philips/Respironics Alice 6 equipment continuously since 2014. 

The data shows the profound effect that the holidays have on the younger ones and their parents!

We looked at sleep and activity data for several years, looking at both Sleeptracker® and MotionX® activity information. The data clearly shows similar patterns from year to year. Thanksgiving and the Holidays, in general, change our sleep and activity levels significantly. Here is an article form the New York Time that discusses some of this impact:

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/health/nutrition/20well.html#sleep

We know that heart rate throughout the night is a sign-post of health and recovery. So we asked, "is it true that the more we sleep, the lower the average heart rate is throughout the night?”

The data shows that this is not necessarily the case, and that includes our weekly work schedules and weekend opportunity to sleep in.

For example, on average, we spend the most wake-time on Fridays, and as the graph shows, our average heart rates are higher on Friday nights. During the corresponding Saturday mornings, we tend to sleep in and our sleep durations end up longer, yet our heart rates throughout the night are higher.

One possible explanation is an increase in REM sleep when the heart rate is generally elevated. Of course, “lifestyle” (alcohol and larger / later meals) also contribute to elevated heart rates measured on Friday and Saturday nights.

For the last four years, Sleeptracker AI data has recorded significant disruption in sleep patterns during the fall when we wind the clock back, losing an hour of daylight. In comparison, the state of Arizona does not change its time for Daylight Saving Time. As a result, their data does not show a disruption.

The following link points to a recent discussion on "CBS This Morning" regarding the potential impacts of fall sleep disruption. youtu.be/Bk8zqWKeLy0

Daylight Saving Time disrupts our sleep. Twice a year, every year. Sleep Disruption! Arizona and Hawaii get it right! The data shows that the switch back and forth to and from Summertime affects us all, night owls as much as morning larks. Both are affected in the same way, on average about three weeks of sleep pattern disruption per year.

The data shows that there is a correlation between city size and REM sleep. Las Vegas is an outlier, but we can all expect that: Who is in Las Vegas to sleep! REM sleep is important to our sleep cycle because it stimulates the areas of your brain that are essential in learning and making or retaining memories. The importance of REM sleep, in particular, is attributed to the fact that during this phase of sleep, our brain exercises important neural connections which are key to mental and overall well-being and health. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, <https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Understanding-Sleep> a study depriving rats of REM sleep significantly shortened their life span, from two or three years to five weeks. Rats deprived of all sleep cycles lived only five weeks.

We all live in a sleep-deprived society, regardless of age. In the graphic below, we studied sleep deficits from Fullpower’s PSG-level Sleeptracker AI platform. Of course, we should all sleep longer, but the reality of modern life is that we only have so much of a “sleep budget” given the constraints of family, work, social media, etc. Therefore, a complementary focus is on the quality of sleep: Improving sleep quality for better sleep is important. For that purpose, bedding, mattress quality, respiratory environment, and temperature control are very important as some of us sleep hot (mostly males) and some of us want to be warmer. All of the above are potentially big contributors to sleep quality, or what we know as restful sleep.

Of note here, women typically average less of a sleep deficit than males.

This plot assumes a target sleep time of 8.5 hours for those under 22 and 8 hours for those above 22. In line with recommendations from the National Sleep Foundation:  https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need. It’s “conservative” for those under 22 meaning you could increase it and show even more of a deficit for that age group (just shifts the y-axis labels).

At Fullpower, we were thinking about last week’s Seattle earthquake and doing some geographical distribution analysis. That earthquake hit right in the middle of our night. So many of those Sleeptracker users around Seattle got affected. Here is a graphical representation using the Sleeptracker AI-powered predictive analytics of how that sleep disruption developed.

Yes, less sunlight means more sleep!

At Fullpower, we looked at the data. The Fullpower dataset includes 250 million nights of sleep. Sleep information from the Sleeeptracker Monitor is unique because it is fully contactless and non-invasive, yet still accurate to within 90%+ gold standard polysomnography. Data shows that continuous heart rate averaged throughout the night is minimized with 7.5 hours of sleep. From there, we find that on average, the answer to our question is 10.8% of deep sleep and 25.3% of REM sleep.

How much should we sleep, and what does the balance between REM and deep sleep look like in those conditions?

At Fullpower, we looked at the data. The Fullpower dataset includes 250 million nights of sleep. Sleep information from the Sleeeptracker Monitor is unique because it is fully contactless and non-invasive, yet still accurate to within 90%+ gold standard polysomnography. Data shows that continuous heart rate averaged throughout the night is minimized with 7.5 hours of sleep. From there, we find that on average, the answer to our question is 10.8% of deep sleep and 25.3% of REM sleep.

Let the data speak! This week at Fullpower, we continue to drill down our accurate multi-year data set that comprises 250+ million nights of sleep. We now discovered previously un-identified seasonal patterns correlating continuous Breathe and Heart Rate over a couple of years. The Fullpower Sleeptracker platform captures continuous breath and heart rate throughout the night. See here the weekly fluctuations day-by-day of breathing heart rate and heart rate.

Seasonal changes occur with higher breath rates in the summer and lower in the winter. This is similar to what was observed in this independent study in Japan, where Sleeptracker gives us much more supportive data. Here is the interesting Japan paper.

Our AI-powered analytics discovered these new correlations, and found the "inverse" breath correlations which seem to be published in this post for the first time ever as we couldn't find this science published anywhere! Fascinating power of our long term PSG-grade datasets and tools!

This week at Fullpower, we continue to drill down our accurate multi-year data set that comprises 250+ million nights of sleep. We now discovered previously un-identified seasonal patterns correlating continuous Breathe and heart rate over a couple of years. The Fullpower Sleeptracker platform captures continuous breath and heart rate throughout the night.

Seasonal changes occur with higher breath rates in the summer and lower in the winter. This is similar to what was observed in this independent study in Japan. 

Our AI-powered analytics discovered this new correlation, and found the "inverse" breath correlations which seem to be published in this post for the first time ever as we couldn't find this science published anywhere! Fascinating power of our long term PSG-grade datasets and tools!

This week at Fullpower, we continue to drill down our accurate multi-year data set that comprises 250+ million nights of sleep.  We found some new interesting weekly patterns within the previously identified seasonal patterns. This infographic shows weekly zoomed-in in heart rate. The Fullpower Sleeptracker platform captures continuous heart rate throughout the night. 

Seasonal changes occur with lower heart rates in the summer and higher in the winter.  This same pattern was also observed in this independent study in Japan. Our AI-powered analytics discovered this independently, and then we found this very interesting Japan paper.

Notice week after week, there is a consistent weekly cycle with lower heart rates early in the week leading to higher heart rates on the weekends and then recovery. Interesting.

At Fullpower, we analyzed our accurate multi-year data-set that comprises 250+ million nights of sleep. We found some interesting seasonal patterns. This infographic shows seasonal changes in heart rate. The Fullpower Sleeptracker platform captures continuous heart rate throughout the night completely non-invasively. Each individual fluctuation in the graph is a weekly max and min, the max being in general weekends (bedtime and wake-time discipline are more lax on weekends) and weekdays with a more disciplined schedule and less “distractions”.

This is what we can observe:

• Seasonal changes occur with lower heart rates in the summer and higher in the winter.  This same pattern was also observed in this independent study in Japan. Our AI-powered analytics discovered this independently and then we found the very interesting Japan paper.

• There's a consistent weekly cycle throughout the year with lower heart rates during the week and higher on the weekends (affected by time to bed, diet, and alcohol).

• We see a big spike for New Year’s eve (time to bed, diet and alcohol).

• There's a significant dip after New Year’s, perhaps due to New Year’s resolutions (better diet, decreased alcohol, more disciplined sleep schedule), but eventually, it fizzles.

• We see another spike after the Super Bowl.
  

The data is in: The springtime change to DST is the event that is the most disruptive to our sleep in 2019. The methodology that we used to make this determination is by analyzing bedtimes for the days following the time change. Our wake times tend to be fixed due to kid schedules, work schedules, and other obligations. Yet we have some latitude with our bedtime. The later we got to bed, the shorter our sleep opportunity. The data shows that it takes about two weeks in the Spring to get back to balance. That’s very disruptive.

P.S. Personally I hope that this year we stay on DST and do not revert in the fall.

The data shows a correlation between heart rate and sleep length. That's the length of actual sleep as opposed to the time spent in bed. This correlation could mean that 6.5 to 8 hours of sleep may be optimal for health. That's because resting heart rate is generally considered a signpost of wellness.

Of course, how those hours slept are broken down into REM and Deep Sleep is a factor. With 250 million nights of sleep analyzed powered by machine learning with Polysomnography-grade accuracy we are learning more every day and happy to share some of that knowledge with the community.

Research shows that other mammals like humans have REM sleep stages and dreams. However, cold-blooded animals such as fish and lizards do not. REM is the sleep-stage when we dream and restore our cognition to wake- up more refreshed in the morning.

The data shows a correlation between resting heart-rate and REM sleep. What the data clearly shows is that females tend to get more REM sleep.

Women and men sleep differently on average. The data seems to show that females may pay more attention to the quality of their sleep. Both genders see a deterioration of their "Sleep Score" when they reach their 40s.

That’s possibly due to societal constraints as well as hormonal changes that are part of the aging process. Then of course, in general, our sleep improves as we age.

At Fullpower, we are looking at changes in sleep patterns and how they may change over time. With the benefit of the Fullpower medical-grade contactless bio-sensing non-invasive, non-intrusive AI-platform we are able to look at REM sleep, Deep Sleep for example.

This is the first in a series of analyses, looking at age groups. We left out teenagers, for now, as sleep patterns for teens are rather "particular". As we set our sleep goals over this may be an important consideration.

This week at Fullpower (www.fullpower.com), we’ve been thinking about how much we sleep and don't sleep each day of the week on average; so we did some distribution analysis. Most of our Sleeptracker (www.sleeptracker.com) sleepers have regulated work schedules which bind them to a fixed weekday schedule. However, there are still several differences. And of course, many of us tend to replenish our "sleep budget" on weekends.

The following image displays the statistically meaningful weekday patterns that we represent using the Sleeptracker AI-powered predictive analytics system.