All health breakthroughs in the field of insomnia are welcomed with open arms by those who sleep poorly. Researchers have just uncovered an interesting piece of health advice: wearing a special cap could help insomniacs drift off and stay that way.
This brand new finding shows that insomniacs could find relief by wearing a cap that cools the brain during sleep. To fall asleep and gain a solid sleep, there is a reduction in metabolism in the brain’s frontal cortex. But insomnia is associated with increased metabolism in this area. One way to reduce this activity is to literally cool the brain.
With maximum cooling, the time that it took subjects with primary insomnia to fall asleep (13 minutes) and the percentage of time in bed that they slept (89%) were similar to people without sleep disorders (16 minutes, 89%). This is a safe, non-drug way that many insomnia sufferers could help themselves.
The study was small, with 12 insomnia patients matched with 12 healthy controls (average age: 45). Participants wore a soft plastic cap on their head, which contained tubes that were filled with circulating water. They tested having no cooling cap, or a cap with either neutral, moderate or maximal cooling intensity.
Generally, medical science has treated insomnia with sleeping pills. But even these drugs are only effective in 25% of patients. Many are concern with becoming dependent on them. Many turn to alternative medicine, herbal remedies such as valerian root and therapies such as meditation and hypnotherapy. Now here is an actual device that could bring these suffering individuals what is to them the holy grail: a restorative sleep.
Chronic insomnia affects approximately 10% of adults. Often, insomnia occurs along with another medical illness, mental disorder or sleep disorder. If you have insomnia or believe you do, speak to your doctor, as tests may need to be run to see if there is any underlying medical issue.