Insomnia: Can't sleep? Try cooling your brain

[bloomington-lib]

According to research presented Monday at Sleep 2011, the annual meeting of the Associated Profession Sleep Societies, cooling the brain and can reduce the amount of time it takes people with insomnia to fall asleep -- and increase the length of time they stay that way.

To achieve "frontal cerebral thermal transfer," as the cooling is called, researchers Dr. Eric Nofzinger and Dr. Daniel Buysse of the Sleep Neuroimaging Research Program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine outfitted 24 people -- 12 with insomnia, and 12 without -- with soft plastic caps. The caps had tubes for circulating water at neutral, moderate or maximum "cooling intensity."

The team observed how well participants slept with and without the caps, and at the different temperature levels. Patients with insomnia who were treated at maximum cooling intensity for the whole night took about 13 minutes to fall asleep and slept 89% of the time that they were in bed, the researchers said. That's similar to the sleep enjoyed by healthy study subjects who didn't have insomnia (who took 16 minutes to fall asleep and also slept 89% of the time).

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/13/news/la-heb-sleep-insomnia-cool-brain-20110613






I'm sleeping with an ice pack on my head tonight!

[tridim]

1. Or smoke half a bowl of good ol' Cannabis Indica 30 minutes before bedtime.

[MissMarple]

2. Thanks! And an ice pack sounds like a good idea.

Hot flashes certainly don't help at all.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. Maybe I should eat some ice cream

along with my Ambien. Do brain-freezes cool your brain?

[RebelOne]

11. I eat ice cream after taking my Sominex.

Doesn't help. I still wake up two or three times during the night. So usually about 4 a.m., I just give up and stay awake and then take a caffeine pill.

[WolverineDG]

4. People tend to sleep better when the room temps are cooler

so this makes sense.

dg

[tinrobot]

5. This is why I sleep with the window open.

[WillyT]

6. Me Too...

:hi:

[Raine]

7. I can't stand to be warm when I sleep. I usually have the fan on

even in the winter (I live in CA so winter weather is not that cold).

[CTyankee]

8. Running a fan also gives you "white noise" which is supposed to be helpful to sleep.

I also find a sleep mask helpful. It blocks out any ambient light, which really makes a difference.

[RebelOne]

12. I have the fan on plus the bedroom A/C on low.

I need some noise when I go to sleep.

[tomm2thumbs]

9. cooler heads prevail again!

ugh, sorry 'bout that

[Codeine]

10. Just chill out. nt

[Spacemom]

13. I'm cool

just like the other side of the pillow. :)