What type of sleeper are you? Scientists have discovered 16 types of sleeper after they have studied the activity tracker data for over 100,000 people.

How was the study conducted?

The scientists grouped people ranging from those who sleep all the way through the night and do not nap in the day, to those who suffer significant periods of wakefulness during the night. Out of this data, 7 types of insomnia were classified, which the researchers believed offered great insights.

For instance, insomnia with short sleep duration was associated with impaired neurocognitive functioning, while insomnia with average sleep duration was linked to anxious-ruminative profiles.

The activity tracker also showed how the sleep patters of those who worked in shifts affected because their working hours switched. Their circadian rhythms were out of sync. This is the natural process that regulates sleep-wake-cycle. When this is out of sync, it may lead to shorter, less good-quality sleep.

What are the 16 types of distinct sleep categories?

As per the research which based its data from smart wristbands used by the United Kingdom Biobank, there were 16 categories of sleep, distributed into 6 broad categories.

Those that fall in the first category experience insomnia with long sleep duration and 'midawake', which is when you wakeup in middle of the night. Then there is a spectrum of people who sleep all the way through the nights without taking naps in the day. Cluster 2 and 4 are further split into a's and b's, which indicates sleep cycle of shift workers.

Cluster:

1: Insomnia with long sleep duration and midawake

2a: Irregular sleep schedule

2b: Fragmented sleep with short sleep duration

3a: Insomnia with normal sleep duration

3b: Insomnia with short sleep duration

4a: Longer 24 h periodic sleep/wake cycle

4b: Major

5: Sleep without day-time sleep window

Then comes clusters 3b and 4b, which are further split into 8 subcategories, which makes it the total of 16 categories of sleepers.

3b-1 is a bigger cluster and includes people who sleep deeply but cannot fall asleep easily once they are woken up. 3b-2 includes short-duration sleepers who show a mix of short wake-ups and some longer hours spent staring at the ceilings. While 4b-1, another large cluster is for the long sleepers and 4b-2 is all the morning people, and 4b-6 are all the night people.

Cluster:

3b-1: Insomnia with short sleep duration and long term midawake

3b-2: Insomnia with short sleep duration and long and short term midawake

4b-1: Long sleeper

4b-2: Morning person

4b-3: Shorter 24 h periodic sleep/wake cycle

4b-4: Insomnia with short sleep duration and short term midawake

4b-5: Insomnia with normal sleep duration and long term midawake with less fragmented sleep

4b-6: Night person

Scientists have pointed that those in the 4b-4 and 4b-5 categories are defined as 'preinsomnia', as both the clusters show normal wake-up duration in the middle of the night, but the former cluster wake and fall asleep repeatedly and frequently.

Smoking is one of the leading causes for lung diseases for people, but did you know a simple hygiene habit could actually be worse than that? While cleaning is a necessary part of your home and living, could cleaning be the reason behind your declining lung health?

A 2018 study from Norway published in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, suggests that the answer is yes, especially for women. Scientists followed over 6,000 people for 20 years and found that regular exposure to common cleaning products can be very harmful to their lungs.

The study compared the decline in lung function among women who cleaned regularly—at least once a week—to that of women who did not. The results were shocking: the damage was so significant that it was like smoking a pack of cigarettes every day for 20 years. Interestingly, the researchers did not find the same negative effects on men in the study.

What Cleaning Products Are Causing Harm To Your Lungs?

The study found that women who regularly cleaned, whether at home or as a job, had a faster decline in their lung function compared to women who didn't clean. This decline was measured by how much air they could breathe out in one second.

The main culprits are harsh cleaning chemicals like ammonia and bleach. These chemicals can irritate and damage the delicate lining inside your airways. Over time, this damage can lead to serious health problems such as asthma, chronic airway obstruction (which makes it hard to breathe), and long-term inflammation.

According to cancer experts at Moffitt Cancer Center, this type of continuous inflammation could even cause changes in your cells that might increase your risk for cancer.

Scientists believe the decline in lung function is caused by the irritation that most cleaning chemicals create in the airways. Over time, this constant irritation can lead to permanent changes in the lungs. The study also found that women who cleaned regularly were more likely to have asthma. Interestingly, this negative effect was not seen in men who participated in the study.

Simple Changes for Safer Cleaning

The good news is that you can protect yourself by making a few simple changes to how you clean. According to the Moffitt Cancer Center, you can incorporate these tips while cleaning.

Go Natural

Whenever you can, choose natural cleaning products instead of harsh chemicals. A simple mix of vinegar and water works great for many surfaces. For tough scrubbing jobs, use everyday items you already have, like salt or a steel wool pad, to get the job done safely.

Wear a Mask

Protect your lungs from harmful fumes by wearing a mask while you clean. A mask helps filter out tiny particles from cleaning sprays and powders, so you don’t breathe them in. This is a simple but very effective step to keep your airways healthy.

Ventilate the Area

Always make sure to open windows and doors when you're cleaning. Letting fresh air in helps push chemical fumes and other pollutants out of your home. This prevents them from building up in the air you're breathing and reduces the health risks associated with them.

Sometimes body pain can be quite difficult to figure out. ‘Is it my shoulder muscle, or is it shoulder joint that’s causing me pain?’ We have all had these questions and struggled while answering them at the doctor’s office. This is a common experience that we all go through, and it can make things like finding what medication will help elevate the pain difficult.

So how do doctors figure this out? Explaining this in a video, Dr Pooja Chopra MD, shares a post on Instagram. Posted on 8th September, in the video caption Dr Chopra explained, “As a PM&R and Pain specialist, my first job is to be a detective. Tracing pain back to its precise source is the most critical step, because each source requires a completely different treatment plan.” She further goes on to give a simplified guide to help people understand their pain better. Understanding where the pain comes from can help people feel more at ease as well as figure out how serious the problem could be.

How To Tell Whether Your Muscle Is Causing Pain, Your Joint Or Nerve?

Muscle Pain

Muscle pain, also called myofascial pain, feels like a dull, deep ache. When you press on the sore spot, you'll feel tenderness and might even find what feel like tight knots or bands. This kind of pain gets worse when you use the muscle that's hurt, but it often feels better with simple things like resting, putting a heating pad on it, or doing some gentle stretches. You can usually point with one finger to exactly where it hurts.

Joint Pain

Joint pain, or articular pain, is a deep, internal ache that feels very stiff. It's not on the surface; it feels like it's coming from inside the joint itself. You might feel a sharp pain when you make a specific movement, like reaching high above your head. This type of pain is often at its worst when you first wake up in the morning, but it tends to get better as you start moving around and warm up the joint. Because the pain is deep, it can be hard to say exactly where it is.

Nerve Pain

Nerve pain, also known as neuropathic pain, is the most distinct kind of pain. It feels like sharp, shooting, burning, or "electric" shocks. People often describe it as a tingling sensation, like "pins and needles," or even numbness. A key sign of nerve pain is that it travels along a clear path, for example, from your neck all the way down your arm. This pain can come on unexpectedly, even when you're completely still and not moving the body part.

It's important to remember that these types of pain can be linked. For example, a problem with a joint could make the muscles around it tense up in a protective spasm, which could then pinch a nearby nerve. This is why a proper diagnosis from a specialist is so important. They use advanced tools like diagnostic ultrasound, which lets them see exactly what's happening inside your body, so they can treat the root cause of the pain precisely.

A new study has pointed out that people who have chronic insomnia could be at higher risk of dementia. One of the best things a person can do to recover from a tiring day, whether it is from a stressful day or after a tiring workout. However, it is not easy for everyone, there are many people who suffer with sleep problems like chronic insomnia.

An estimate of 16.2% of people around the globe suffer with insomnia according to 2025 Sleep Medicine Reviews, which is a condition that makes it hard to fall or stay asleep. A big number of these people have what's called chronic insomnia, meaning they've had this problem for at least three months, with poor sleep happening three or more nights a week.

Previous studies have already connected insomnia to serious health problems like heart disease and diabetes. But now, a new study in the medical journal Neurology has found an even more concerning link: people with chronic insomnia might be at a much higher risk for developing dementia and other memory problems. The study suggests that their brains could be aging faster as a result.

How Does Insomnia Cause Dementia?

For this study, researchers followed 2,750 older adults for an average of five and a half years. At the beginning, everyone was mentally healthy. The researchers found that the people who had chronic insomnia had a 40% higher chance of developing dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Researchers explain that this is a huge finding because it means chronic insomnia could be a bigger risk factor for memory loss than having both high blood pressure and diabetes. They also discovered that those who slept less had more of the tell-tale signs of Alzheimer's disease in their brains, like amyloid plaques, and other signs of damage to their brain's blood vessels. This shows that poor sleep isn't just about feeling tired—it's linked to real, physical changes in the brain.

Why You Should Prioritize Sleep?

Experts believe that a big part of the problem is that insomnia is often overlooked. Many older adults just assume that bad sleep is a normal part of getting older. However, doctors stress that chronic insomnia is a real medical issue that goes beyond typical age-related changes. They urge doctors to start talking to their patients about their sleep habits during every check-up.

The good news is that chronic insomnia is a treatable condition. The main treatment is a type of talk therapy called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). The hope is that by recognizing and treating insomnia, doctors can help protect a person's brain health for years to come.

How Does Insomnia Affect Our Memory

Previous studies have shown that our cognitive abilities are affected by how much we sleep. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, explained that there is a strong connection between a person's sleep and their risk of developing Alzheimer's. We know that sleep is crucial for learning and creating memories. Studies have found that a lack of sleep and conditions like insomnia are not just a symptom of Alzheimer's—they may also play a role in its development.

This means that sleep disorders can have a significant impact on whether someone gets Alzheimer's and how fast the disease progresses. Because of this, it's important for doctors to pay more attention to sleep issues when diagnosing and treating patients. By properly screening for and managing sleep disorders, we might be able to help prevent or slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease.