Sleepless in NYC: Does hitting the snooze button harm your health?

NEW YORK CITY - There's a reason the word "sleep" reached an all-time high in Google searches last year, and New Yorkers living in the city that never sleeps may have had something to with it. 

Plenty is keeping us awake these days, and while some can't remember the last time we had a good night's sleep, we remember the alarm that woke us up, even if it wasn’t ours.

"My wife starts snoozing from 6 every six minutes until 7 o'clock, but I'm up at six," said Charles, a New Yorker.

It turns out, by getting up the first time his alarm goes off, Charles is doing what doctors recommend, while his wife's hand on the snooze button may be doing more harm than good.

What doctors say about hitting the snooze button

"When you hit the snooze button, you are inviting yourself to have continued sleep, but mixed with wakefulness. It’s not very efficient, and it's usually not ended by a defined time," said Dr. Ronald Chervin, a professor of neurology and chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine at the University of Michigan. "The regularity of sleep helps your brain adjust and plan ahead, so to speak. It lets your circadian rhythm be as strong as it needs to be."

The circadian rhythm mentioned by Chervin relates to the parts of your brain controlling wakefulness and sleep, which sets the rhythm for other parts of our bodies.

He said with sleep, it’s just better not to blur the lines – either be all the way in or all the way out. The same idea applies to those who set multiple alarms.

One New Yorker showed FOX 5 NY's Kendall Green how many alarms she had on her phone to wake her up, and it was too many to count.

"I literally snooze every single one of them," she said.

When asked if she feels more productive after getting the extra sleep after hitting the snooze button.

"No, I feel less rested actually," she responded.

Why? Because there’s a small nucleus in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus that’s like the orchestra leader of your body’s physiological functions. The more consistent and regular your sleep schedule is, the healthier your body’s functions are and the stronger your circadian rhythm.