Current location:sport >>
Can't sleep? Ditch the duvet and just snuggle under a heavy blanket
sport199People have gathered around
IntroductionPut away the duvet if you want a good night's sleep – you're best off sliding under a heavy blanket. ...
Put away the duvet if you want a good night's sleep – you're best off sliding under a heavy blanket.
Scientists say weighted blankets trigger the release of feel-good chemicals in the brain, which reacts to the blanket's pressure as it would to an embrace or cuddle.
Tests show this puts you in a better mood in the morning – and cuts cases of depression and anxiety.
'Weighted blankets might be a safe and effective intervention for insomnia and various sleep disturbances, with fewer side-effects than drug therapy,' report the researchers.
They analysed data from studies looking at heavy or weighted blankets as a treatment for improving sleep and other disorders, in an effort to understand mechanisms behind sleep problems.
A woman sleeping on a sofa under a blanket. Scientists say weighted blankets trigger the release of feelgood chemicals in the brain, which reacts to the blanket's pressure as it would to an embrace or cuddle (stock image)
Neurologists at Zhejiang University Hospital in Hangzhou, China, (pictured) concluded that Lying under weighted blankets results in better sleep and fewer cases of chronic pain
Lying under weighted blankets results in better sleep and fewer cases of chronic pain, conclude the neurologists at Zhejiang University Hospital in Hangzhou, China.
Just how heavy blankets have such a dramatic effect is unclear.
One theory is that the touch and pressure of a weighted blanket on the skin can stimulate sensory nerve endings.
The researchers suggest this would activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which has a calming effect.
It also increases the production of endorphins, the body's own painkillers, and boosts levels of dopamine and serotonin, brain chemicals involved in the regulation of mood disorders.
Endorphins and dopamine can also reduce heart rate and relax muscles, which in turn can improve sleep and limit insomnia.
Stimulation of the nerve endings may also encourage release of melatonin, the hormone which plays a key role in sleep timing.
The body naturally increases melatonin levels at night to aid sleep, while supplements based on the hormone are used by doctors to treat insomnia.
The neurologists say: 'The blankets could improve sleep quality and ease negative emotions and daytime symptoms in patients with sleep disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other related disorders.'
But the study, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, concludes that more research will be needed.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“International Intrigue news portal”。http://togo.arnoldview.org/article-74a399607.html
Related articles
Testimony at Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial focuses on his wife's New Jersey home
sportNEW YORK (AP) — A New Jersey businessman rescued the home of Sen. Bob Menendez’s wife from foreclosu ...
【sport】
Read moreMitchell Parker throws 7 scoreless innings as Nats blank Astros 6
sportWASHINGTON (AP) — Left-hander Mitchell Parker threw seven shutout innings, and Luis Garcia Jr. had t ...
【sport】
Read moreForest appears to question integrity of match official after 2
sportLIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Nottingham Forest appeared to question the integrity of a match official i ...
【sport】
Read more
Popular articles
- Andretti Global makes key engineering hire in bid to earn a spot in Formula 1
- London police to meet with Jewish leaders as protests spark safety concerns
- Inside the Los Angeles highway houses: Sky
- Inside the Los Angeles highway houses: Sky
- Fake elector case: Former Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward and others set to be arraigned
- Tens of thousands of Colombians protest against leftist president's reform agenda
Latest articles
Russia begins nuclear drills in an apparent warning to West over Ukraine
Conductor Andrew Davis dies at 80, headed Lyric Opera of Chicago and orchestras on 3 continents
Fiorentina wins 2
Korda 1 stroke back in suspended 3rd round of Chevron Championship as she chases 5th straight win
What to stream: Lenny Kravitz, South Park, 'Dune: Part 2'
3 hospitalized after knife attack on party boat in New York City along Brooklyn waterfront
LINKS
- Cambodian PM to attend 4th Lancang
- Royal gardener reveals top tips to get rid of slugs and snails
- Two people die in south India amid heavy rains ahead of cyclone Michaung
- Foreign enterprises eye bright prospects in Chinese market
- NE China ports handle record high China
- Hunter Biden indicted on multiple counts related to firearms, tax evasion
- In politically riven Pennsylvania, primary voters will pick candidates in presidential contest year
- Supreme Court of U.S. Michigan keeps Trump on 2024 primary ballot
- Sports equipment exports from Yiwu to France surge 70 percent ahead of Paris Olympics
- Foreign enterprises eye bright prospects in Chinese market