By Sharmain Cornette. âAbout two percent of the patients who undergo open-heart surgery worldwide end up with a stroke.â This notion was amplified yesterday by Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI), Dr Gary Stephens, during an interview with this newspaper.
Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleepâwhen brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less vivid or memorable. The length of a dream can vary; they may last for a few seconds, or approximately 20â30 minutes.
Nightmare disorder is referred to by doctors as a parasomnia â a type of sleep disorder that involves undesirable experiences that occur while you're falling asleep, during sleep or when you're waking up. Nightmares usually occur during the stage of sleep known as rapid eye movement (REM). You normally go through four to six sleep cycles a night, cycling through the sleep stages in about 90 minutes. Your REM stage lengthens with each cycle, from several minutes in the first cycle to up to an hour in the last. You're more likely to have a nightmare in the second half to the last third of your night.