科技資訊:新技術幫人提高睡眠質量(下)

"I think these are clever devices, but there's very limited data on how valuable they are," said Dr. David M. Rapoport, the director of the sleep medicine program at New York University School of Medicine. "They're a really good way to capture data. But some of them are giving out recommendations in ways that just aren't proven."

"我認爲這些應用都是很聰明的設置，但是關於它們有用性的數據十分有限，"大衛.M.拉波波特博士說。拉波波特是紐約大學醫學院睡眠醫學項目的指導。"這些應用是獲取信息非常有效的方式，但是有些軟件給出的建議尚未得到證實。"

He points out that certain features, like quantifying sleep and tracking habits, are particularly beneficial because they identify sleep patterns. "Many people lie to themselves about how much sleep they're really getting," he said. "If it takes an app to tell you you're only getting four hours a night and that that's why you're tired, then that's a good thing."

拉波波特指出這項應用的某些特點尤其有用，如提高睡眠質量和追蹤生活習慣，因爲這些功能可以識別睡眠模式。"很多人關於自己的睡眠時間都撒了謊。"他說，"如果讓一個應用程序告訴你你晚上只睡了4個小時，所以你很疲憊，這是件好事。"

But, he says, when an app instructs you to get eight hours of sleep instead of seven, or to avoid coffee after 6 p.m. for better sleep, it has gone too far, since not everyone needs the same amount of sleep or is affected in the same way by caffeine. "These apps tend to suggest that there's a right way you should do things," he said, "but we cannot make the same recommendations for everybody."

但是他也說，如果一個應用指揮你睡8個小時而不是7個小時，或者不讓你晚上6點之後喝咖啡，這樣就走極端了，因爲不是所有人都需要相同時間的睡眠，而咖啡因對所有人的影響也不盡相同。"這些應用試圖告訴人們做事情的正確途徑，"拉波波特教授說，"但是我們不能給所有人相同的建議。"

Dr. Rapoport also questioned the claim that waking a person from light sleep prevents sleep inertia. While some studies have found evidence of this, others, like one carried out by Harvard researchers and published in The Journal of Sleep Research, have found it has almost no effect. "It is not clear that systematically waking people up in light sleep is going to benefit them or lead to better health," he said.

除此之外，拉波波特博士也質疑所謂的在輕度睡眠時被叫醒能夠預防睡後遲鈍。儘管有些研究已經找到了相關證據，但是其他研究，比如發表在《睡眠調查期刊》上的哈佛大學研究者所做的研究，均發現這些應用毫無效果。"系統地在輕度睡眠的時候把人叫醒是否有助於身體健康尚不明確，"拉波波特說。

Toward the end of a normal night of rest, the amount of time spent in deep sleep tends to diminish, so it's likely that any alarm will wake a person in light sleep anyway, said Dr. Meir H. Kryger, a professor at Yale Medical School and the author of a new e-book, "The Guide to Sleep."

梅爾.H.克萊格，耶魯大學醫學院教授，新出的電子書《睡眠指南》的作者。他說，當夜晚休息臨近尾聲的時候，用於深度睡眠的時間逐漸減少，因此，任何方式的任何鬧鈴都能叫醒一個處於輕度睡眠的人。

"At 6 or 7 in the morning, it's very likely that a person will not be in a very deep state of sleep," he said. "Simply knowing that means that these devices have a very good chance of working just because of biology. On the other hand, so does any alarm clock."

"大約早上6、7點的是時候，人很可能已經不處於深度睡眠的階段了，"克萊格教授說，"瞭解這點只是意味着因爲生理學原理，這些應用很可能起到作用。不過從另一方面講，任何一個鬧鐘也能做到這一點。"

That is not enough to dissuade faithful users of the programs, like Bart Epstein, 43, a longtime Zeo user who lives in Arlington, Va. Mr. Epstein, an executive at , an online tutoring program, says he has no doubt that the program lives up to its claims. After years of sleeping poorly, he began using the Zeo, which helped him identify habits that were keeping him "wired" at night and cutting into his sleep, like evening exercise, and it forced him to be disciplined about his bedtime of all, he said, he no longer struggles with morning grogginess. "It just doesn't happen anymore."

以上說明還不足以勸阻這些應用的忠實粉絲。比如巴特.愛普斯坦，43歲，一直居住在艾靈頓，是長期使用Zeo產品的老客戶。愛普斯坦先生還是的管理人員，負責網上輔導項目。他說他一開始就是用Zeo的產品，可以幫助他發現晚上睡不好覺的原因以及打斷他的睡眠，像夜間鍛鍊一樣，這些應用迫使他遵守睡眠規律。

"Having all the data that it collects is what influences me," he said. "You can lie to yourself and lie to your spouse, but you can't lie to the Zeo. It holds you accountable."

"擁有所有睡眠應用所蒐集的信息實實在在地影響着我，"愛普斯坦說，"你可以跟自己說謊，也可以欺騙你的伴侶，但是你瞞不了Zeo，它讓你充滿責任感。"

Best of all, he said, he no longer struggles with morning grogginess. "It just doesn't happen anymore."

愛普斯坦說，最棒的就是，他再也不需要爲早晨的神經衰弱而掙扎了，"睡醒之後的種種問題再也沒有發生過"。