Sleeping with a fan on can be bad for you

Question

It can circulate air too much which can dry out your mouth and nose and worsen sickness symptoms.

Comments

Oops. Didn't mean to do this

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Are there certain instances in which sleeping with a fan on would be beneficial for one's health?

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Thank you for your short and concise fact check. I really liked how you could instantly tell whether or not the statement was true, and you listed the negative effects of sleeping with a fan. However, due to the fact checks short nature, it is hard to understand the validity of it. I noticed you cited a source in your fact check, but upon clicking on that source, I noticed there is not a lot of information about the positive effects of sleeping with a fan. It would have been nice to read about the counterclaim to the opposing side to add validity to your argument. Without weighing the pros and cons I cannot take this fact check as accurate as it seems one sided. If you could add your response to the positive affects of sleeping with a fan that would be great.

Answer 1

While the article does cite these as disadvantages that come with having a fan on while you sleep, the article also talks about the benefits of having a fan on while sleeping. Such benefits include white noise to help you sleep as well as a lower risk of SIDS. Sleepfoundation.org also says that keeping a fan on while sleeping can help circulate air in the room and keep it fresh.

https://www.healthline.com/health/sleeping-with-fan-on#benefits

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-faqs/is-sleeping-with-a-fan-on-bad-for-you#:~:text=Sleeping%20with%20a%20fan%20on%20is%20fairly%20harmless%20for%20most,View%20Source%20.

Comments

I find it useful that you brought up the fact that the article didn't only mention the disadvantages of having a fan. Adding the pros of having a fan help solidify the idea that a fan may be bad when you are sick because it can worsen symptoms but it also has great benefits.

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I liked the fact you brought up how the article discusses the advantages and drawbacks of having a fan running while sleeping. I also appreciate how the 2nd article you bring up is from an organization, which is always a good sign of it being a reliable source, as well as being directly related to the topic.

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I'm glad that you were able to bring up the several advantages that fans can bring which overall helps disprove the idea that fans are bad overall for your health while sleeping.

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I really liked the fact you brought up how the article discusses both the advantages and disadvantages of having the fan running while you are sleeping. I also liked how the 2nd article you used is from an organization, which makes the claim easier to back, I think this is an Interesting topic that I plan on learning more about. But well done on this factcheck!

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I don't think that pointing out the advantages makes this exaggerated or misleading. The article isn't claiming that fans are bad for your health, it is asking a question. Therefore, I think it is more of an opinion piece. It gives you the pros and cons and allows you to decide what is best with said pros and cons.

Answer 2

Yes, this article does mention that sleeping with a fan on can have multiple side affects and concerns, including: Congestion, Allergies, Dry eyes and skin, and Muscle aches. However, the article does give some insight on the benefits of sleeping with a fan as well; comfortable cooling, white noise to help fall asleep, freshen up a room, and preventing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in babies.

The article also gives recommendations on the type of fans that are good for overnight sleeps, as well as offering other alternative options to keeping oneself cool such as; cooling mattress, blackout curtains, hot bath, keeping doors open, maintaining air filters, and using a cold cloth.

The article posted above offers both pros and cons to fan usage throughout the night.

For more information about air conditioning and fan usage in bedrooms, I have listed a couple sources.

Here is a study conducted of fan use preventing SIDs in infants:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18838649/

As well as another in depth study of the use of bedroom ventilation and the results of the study conducted;

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723024269

Comments

This is a solid fact check, and you've done all the work.

I think it would be helpful if you spent some time at the end summarizing why this claim is Exaggerated/Misleading.

Answer 3

I believe the claims posted in this article are true. The article talks about how sleeping with a fan can cause congestion and allergy-like symptoms. This article also talks about the benefits that can come from sleeping with a fan such as comfort and white-noise. I found information to back up the claims that sleeping with a fan on can cause allergies, but I could not find anywhere that sleeping with a fan can actually make you sick.

Comments

This is a really good factcheck! One thing you could add in the future is linking your sources, like for where you found the information on allergies caused by sleeping with a fan.

Answer 4

The same article also cites several benefits to sleeping with a fan on. Such as cooling effects, white noise, and SIDS prevention. The article does not claim that sleeping with a fan on is bad, rather it provides the potential positives and negatives.

https://www.healthline.com/health/sleeping-with-fan-on#benefits

Comments

I like how you listed the health benefits and pointed out that it wasn't a claim that was being made. It was more informational and just listed pros and cons, so people can form their own opinions and choose what to do with that knowledge.

Answer 5

Firstly, the headline of the article states that there are both pros and cons to sleeping with a fan on. 

One benefit of sleeping with the fan on is shortening the time it takes to fall asleep. A study used in the Healthline article itself was conducted and found that 80% of studied newborns fell asleep with white noise (the fan) on within five minutes, and only 25% fell asleep in five minutes without white noise.

It is true that sleeping with the fan on can cause problems. However, this article states that "Fans don't pose serious risk during the night, but for some people, they might lead to mildly irritating symptoms." For example, drying out your mouth from too much air circulation.

Sleeping with the fan on isn't necessarily "bad for you," and this claim is more opinion than fact based.

Healthline

Newborn sleep study

Comments

Hey! Thanks for pointing out the fact that the headline isn't taking a stance. I recognized this as well and think that it is important to note,  as it isn't making a claim for or against it, it is just saying that there are pros and cons. I feel like question-based headlines have been used so much in recent years as clickbait that it has become something that people think is leaning one way or another, even if they aren't.

Answer 6

The Main claim of this article is that there are Pros and Cons to sleeping with a fan. Not that it is bad for you. I did some research and got mixed opinions on whether or not HealthLine was credible or not. However, it seems that it was credible at one point but has gotten less so in recent years. That being said, Raj Dasgupta is a real doctor and writer, so there is some credibility with that. This article isn't brand new, but it came out in the past 5 years... which means 2020. It's weird to think that 2020 was almost 5 years ago, but hey, time is crazy, man. Yet, there are a lot of studies happening about this now in 2024, which was interesting to learn about. There are no quotes or images to dissect, but the text itself doesn't seem to be all that biased. It walks the line pretty well. I feel like some people often see a question-based title as clickbaity or like it's trying to get you to think that the question is true, but honestly, here, I think it's used fairly well. It asks the question of if it's healthy and then looks at both the pros and cons of sleeping with a fan. I think this is a pretty good article overall.

Answer 7

The claim that sleeping with a fan on can be bad for you is partially true. According to the article the claim linked, circulating air from a fan can dry out your mouth, nose, and throat, which may lead to an overproduction of mucus, causing symptoms like headaches, a stuffy nose, sore throat, or even snoring. However, fans don't pose serious risks and, according to the Sleep Foundation, can be beneficial by maintaining a comfortable sleeping environment and providing soothing background noise, as well as circulating the air in the room to keep a room from being stuffy.

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-faqs/is-sleeping-with-a-fan-on-bad-for-you

Comments

I liked how your factcheck was simple and easy to understand without missing any parts of the original claim as well as making space for another point of view. I find it helpful to see all sides of the issue when determining my own opinion and you provided that. I liked how you included examples from the article and your own research. The entire thing is very easy to follow and informs the reader on the subject. I would like to suggest considering personal preference in your answer, as some people don't like the noise or stronger air while others may find it acts as a white noise substitute and like the feeling of the air. I think it's something to consider in an issue like this one, but overall this is an excellent answer to the claim.