Posted on 10/03/2022 7:43:35 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A new study shows that using a weighted blanket at bedtime increases melatonin in young adults. This hormone increases in response to darkness, and some evidence suggests that it promotes sleep.
Previous research has shown that weighted blankets may ease insomnia in humans. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Hence, researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden experimented with 26 young men and women to examine if the bedtime use of a weighted blanket increases the production of sleep-promoting and anti-stress hormones like melatonin and oxytocin. In addition, they investigated whether the bedtime use of a weighted blanket (12% of participants' body weight) reduced the activity of stress systems in the body. To this end, saliva was collected repeatedly from participants while they were covered with either a weighted or a light blanket to measure melatonin, oxytocin, cortisol, and the activity of the fight and flight sympathetic nervous system.
"Using a weighted blanket increased melatonin concentrations in saliva by about 30%. However, no differences in oxytocin, cortisol, and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system were observed between the weighted and light blanket conditions," says Elisa Meth, first author.
"Our study may offer a mechanism explaining why weighted blankets may exert some therapeutic benefits, such as improved sleep. However, our findings rely on a small sample and investigated only the acute effects of a weighted blanket. Thus, larger trials are needed, including an investigation of whether the observed effects of a weighted blanket on melatonin are sustained over longer periods," says senior author Christian Benedict.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
My furnace began to sweat like a super soaker at night. Crazy.
I had heard about weighted blankets and how great they were, but I’m glad I found out before buying one.
I can feel sleep coming on....and am 80... so I guess it works for all ages.
Am I correct in assuming that you’re a male?
I slept away from my husband during those months.
(Blanket off, Blanket on, Blanket off, ad infinitum...)
I have a weighted blanket and use it in the colder months. I sleep on a king bed but bought a twin size weighted blanket. They are very heavy so just get a twin.
I don’t mean to be the wild and crazy one here, but a CBD edible and a 20 lb weighted blanket on a cold night will make you feel like a crystalis.
When I lived in a rural area...we had goats...so collected about 7 or 8 nice pelts....professionally tanned.....and great on top of the bed in winter.
Thanks for the tip. I think I would like it.
Perhaps the weight tells our lizard brain that we are safe because we are not the one on the outside of the pile but inside.
Then I can’t sleep because the weighted blanket is too warm
Were you playing a Nintendo game?
1 Kings 1, King David, in his old age, had a beautiful young woman to lie beside him and keep him warm coz them blankets weren’t no good a’tall.
Hmmm...
When I was a lot younger, I found another weight on top of me that was, eventually, sleep-inducing...
Would they send me the weighted blanket for their trials? I’m in!
It makes you feel like a 40 year old video game? Next time try an indica edible. Add some fatigue, a heavy blanket, and what you will feel is...zzzz
“Weighted blankets found to increase melatonin (30% higher)”
No thanks, my skin is dark enough already.
You need to talk to they guy who feels like a crystalis.
young, nubile, woman
I’ll take any one of the three!
Not sure about all of that, but it makes some sense:
3 So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
4 And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.
“
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.