Say goodbye to blurry mornings

Enrique Ortiz is not a morning person, but he needs to get to work at 8 a.m.

"I am kind of groggy in the morning and it is hard to get up to go to work," said Ortiz.

His biggest complaint is that he rarely wakes up refreshed. He feels sluggish. Experts say he's a victim of a long "sleep inertia."

"And if that period of time is shortened you are not likely to be confused or disoriented. Depending on what stage of sleep you wake up from you may have a longer or shorther sleep inertia," said Dr. Alon Avidan of UCLA's Sleep Disorders Center

Doctors say Enrique would feel better if he awoke when his body was in a lighter sleep cycle as opposed to a deep one. If most people were able to wake up naturally, the body would do it on its own, but few people have that luxury.

A new watch-like device called the /*SLEEPTRACKER*/ is helping people with sleeping disorders.

"SLEEPTRACKER is a watch that monitors your sleep patterns. You can set it to wake you up at the most opportune time for your body. So, you'll wake up feeling refreshed," said Chari Kauffman, SLEEPTRACKER.

Experts say the $150 device is similar to a more expensive motion sensor used in sleep labs.

"That measures movement throughout the night. And, there's a good correlation between being awake and moving and being asleep and being fairly quiet," said Dr. Michael Stevenson, /*Glendale Adventist Medical Center*/.

According to experts, the less a person moves, the deeper his or her sleep.

To test the SLEEPTRACKER, users enter a 20-minute window for when they'd like to wake. When the tester reached a light sleep cycle near their desired wake up time, it sounded.

Enrique volunteered to try it out. After three nights with the SLEEPTRACKER, he said the most difficult part was falling asleep with a watch.

"It wasn't for me. I can't see myself constantly wearing this thing constantly to bed," said Enrique.

While Enrique said he did wake up feeling less groggy, he wasn't sure he could credit the device.

"I did wake up a little more refreshed but I don't know. Maybe it's just a mind thing for me," said Enrique.

Doctors say you can't use the SLEEPTRACKER to trick your body. Even if you woke up refreshed, it can't sustain you throughout the day unless you get eight hours of quality sleep.



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