Internet Deception About Ideal Sleep Positions

Why Sleeping on Your Back is Very Bad for Your Health

Man sleeping on back with mouth breathing Surely, sleep is crucial for good health and each sleep parameter matters for well-being and even life of many people. What are the ideal sleeping positions for better health? If you try to search the World Wide Web using simple keywords like “best sleeping postures” or “correct sleeping positions” or “perfect postures for sleep”, you will find out that over 80% of popular websites advice to sleep on one’s back (or supine sleep). They say that it is the ideal sleep position due to minimum stress for a human spine. These internet resources are usually created by chiropractors, medical doctors, nurses, and alignment specialists. They view the human body as a physical device with angles, bones, curves, pressure, and tension. These professionals surely have good intentions while providing this advice, but their oversimplified view of the human organism has catastrophic effects.

2 groups of medical doctors smiling Professional medical research has found that sleeping on one’s back is the most harmful sleeping posture for: - coughing attacks, - sleep apnea, - back pain in pregnancy, - irregular or periodic breathing, - sleep paralysis and terrifying hallucinations, - nocturnal asthma, - health of geriatric inpatients, - asthma, - health of pregnant women, - asthma and allergies, - pulmonary tuberculosis treated by thoracoplasty, - snoring, hypopneas and apneas, - heart failure with sleep apnea, - chronic respiratory insufficiency, - bruxism and clenching episodes, - stroke in elderly patients. For references and abstracts of all these studies quoted, see the links below.

Furthermore, there are no professional medical publications or articles that found positive aspects of sleeping on one’s back for any health problem. (As I am going to argue below, supine sleep will gradually destroy even bones and the spine in predisposed individuals.)

Is there any common mechanism since numerous studies revealed the same adverse impact of supine sleep on very different health troubles? Authors of several healthcare publications found the biggest reduction in oxygenation of the arterial blood for sleeping on one’s back in comparison with lateral sleep (left side or right side) and prone sleep (sleeping on the stomach, chest or belly) (Hjalmarsen & Hykkerud, 2008; Trakada et al, 2003; Szollosi et al, 2006; Fast & Hertz, 1992). It is a common finding that reduced oxygen content in the body is the critical factor that leads to progress of many chronic diseases.

Furthermore, scientific publications have clearly determined that the highest mortality rates and most pronounced acute symptoms occur during the early morning hours (from about 4 to 7 am) for diabetes, COPD, coronary spasms, sudden cardiac arrest and deaths, inflammatory disorders, cerebral ischemia and stroke, epilepsy seizures, asthma and morning sickness. Other healthcare articles devoted to circadian variations in different physiological parameters in healthy subjects also determined that these early morning hours are their worst times. For medical references and quotes see the links below.

Clouds and sky Why do all these problems occur? If you observe respiratory movements of people sleeping on their backs, you can discover that they breathe more (e.g., faster and deeper) in comparison with any other sleeping posture. For example, snoring is a very common effect present for many people only during their supine sleep. Why? This is because our rib cage and tummy are not limited and can freely move in and out without any resistance. When we sleep on our sides or the stomach, breathing movements are confined. Hence, sleeping on one’s back lowers oxygenation of cells due to overbreathing or hyperventilation (or breathing more than the tiny medical norm: 10-12 breaths per minute and only 4-6 l/min at rest).

CO2 model The reasons that overbreathing lowers the body's oxygen content are:
1. With tiny normal breathing, human arterial blood is approximately 98 per cent saturated with oxygen. Hence, deep and big breathing cannot increase oxygenation of the arterial blood.
2. Most hyperventilators are chest breathers. Lower segments of the lungs do not receive fresh air with superior oxygen content. Therefore, oxygenation of the arterial blood becomes less.
3. Overbreathing means CO2 deficiency in the blood and body cells and that immediately creates 2 effects: A) constriction of blood vessels (less blood and oxygen is transported to all essential organs of the human body) and B) suppressed Bohr effect (less oxygen is released in our tissues by red blood cells since this oxygen release is controlled by carbon dioxide).

Doctor helps older patient Both these effects REDUCE oxygen and blood supply to cells promoting heart disease, asthma, stroke, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, COPD, epilepsy, obesity and many other common problems.

Moreover, numerous medical research articles found that hyperventilation disrupts normal calcium metabolism and can lead to osteoporosis, brittle bones and other related abnormalities. Hence, sleeping on one's back will gradually destroy bones too. The effect will be even stronger, if a person sleeps the whole night in a supine position.

Sleep is not a joke to take care about bones only. It is a fatal poison for the chronically sick since millions of patients die every year because of the impacts of sleep, where supine sleep is one of the leading factors of these deaths. Therefore, ideal or best sleeping postures must be selected based on optimum personal respiratory parameters (easier and slower breathing) and greatest body oxygen test test results. A particular stress-free breath holding time check is the easiest way to choose your best individual sleeping positions, as it is explained in the first link above "Proper Sleep Postures".

Reference web pages:
Proper Sleep Postures Medical Summary
Morning Heavy Breathing Effect - Summary of studies related to the fact that the sick are most likely to have acute attacks or even to die during early morning hours or watch this YouTube video clip How We Breathe in the Morning

References: CO2 Effects Web Pages
Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion (or blood supply) to all vital organs
The Bohr effect How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
Cell Oxygen Levels and oxygen transport are controlled by alveolar CO2 and breathing
Oxygen Transport depends on breathing and these two effects (Vasoconstriction-Vasodilation and the Bohr effect) are parts of two diagrams that summarize influences of hypocapnia (low CO2 content in the blood and cells) on circulation and O2 delivery
Free Radical Generation takes place due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia. Hence, antioxidant defenses of the human body are also regulated by CO2 and breathing
Inflammatory Response is controlled by breathing since hypoxia leads to or intensifies chronic inflammation through over-expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces these processes
Nerve stabilization takes place due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
Muscle relaxation or relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
Brochodilation - dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) by carbon dioxide, and their constriction due to hypocapnia
CO2: Best Natural Cough Suppressant and "home remedy" since it calms urge-to-cough nerve receptors located in the tracheobronchial tree and larynx
Blood pH regulation and regulation of other bodily fluids
CO2: Lung Damage Healer: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
CO2: Skin and Tissue Healer
Synthesis of Glutamine in the Brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
CO2 myth "CO2 is a toxic waste gas" myth
Breathing control How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven and erratic?

Reference Web Pages: Breathing norms, Medical Graphs and Tables about Breathing Rates (Minute Ventilation) and Body Oxygen in Healthy, Normal and Sick People
Breathing norms Parameters, graph, and description of the normal breathing pattern
6 breathing myths 6 myths about breathing and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
Hyperventilation Definitions of hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
Hyperventilation Syndrome in the Sick. Table 1. Western scientific evidence about prevalence of CHV (chronic hyperventilation) in patients with various chronic conditions (34 medical studies)
Normal Minute Ventilation in Healthy Subjects: Easy and Light Breathing (14 Studies)
Hyperventilation Prevalence Present in Over 90% of Normal People (24 medical publications)
HV and hypoxia How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of all vital organs
Body oxygen test How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (a simple DIY test)
Body oxygen in healthy Table 4. CP (body oxygen level) in healthy people (27 medical studies)
Body oxygen in sick Table 5. CP (body oxygen level) in sick people (14 medical studies)
Buteyko Table of Health Zones with clinical description of most common zones
Morning HV Morning hyperventilation effect or how and why critically ill people are most likely to die during early morning hours

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