Melatonin is a substance secreted mainly by the pineal gland. When it gets dark, the brain dumps it into the blood, preparing the body for sleep.
The gentle, tactile pressure of these blankets can be just as psychologically comforting as a hug. Photo: Shutterstock
The insomnia It is one of the most frequent sleep disorders and affects the health of many people. Furthermore, this problem affects an individual’s daily performance and is associated with other comorbidities, such as cognitive impairment. For this reason, it is increasingly common for remedies to end the insomniawe can find everything from mindfulness, hormonal supplements to heavy blankets that increase the melatonin.
Also known as weighted blanket, these are blankets whose weight is greater than that of a conventional one. Normally, they range between five and nine kilos, although they are sold with various loads. One of its claims, precisely, is to help against the insomniasomething that has been verified by a research conducted by professionals from the University of Uppsala (Sweden) and whose objective was to find the reason for the good reputation they enjoy among insomniacs and professionals.
“Many doctors had told me about the magical effects of weighted blankets, but they didn’t know if it acted as a placebo effect,” Christian Benedict, professor of pharmacology and lead author of the research, told The Washington Post.
With that question on the horizon, the researcher and his team set out to analyze the mechanisms —if there were any— by which a weighted blanket was able to help with sleep problems. insomnia. As they discovered, the key is in the melatonin. Apparently, with the use of this utensil, its production increases up to 32%.
prepare the body
The melatonin It is a substance secreted mainly by the pineal gland. When it gets dark, the brain pours it into the blood and preparing it serves to prepare the body for sleep. Among its effects is that the heart relaxes, regulates the temperature and lowers the pulsation.
One of the problems with what is also known as the vampire hormone is that its secretion decreases with age, so taking it exogenously, as well as anything that favors its production, is understood as a synonym of help against insomnia. That would be the case with weighted blankets. “The bodily sensation that this blanket produces, such as gentle pressure on the skin, can activate regions of the brain that can influence the release of melatonin“, explained the researcher.
For his experiment, he sampled 26 young men and women, with no sleep problems or other medical conditions, who were asked to sleep in the lab with a heavy blanket one night and a light one another. During this time, the researchers took saliva samples to measure changes in hormone levels, verifying that, with the use of the weighted blanket, the level of melatonin was increased by the percentage quoted.
It is not the first time that a study supports the efficacy of weighted blankets, but it is a pioneer in explaining the mechanism of its anti-inflammatory effect. insomnia. In 2020, another Swedish team successfully tested the efficacy of this remedy with 120 patients with sleep problems associated with psychiatric problems.
All of them were asked to sleep with one of these blankets for four weeks and, according to what was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, they experienced a significant reduction in the severity of the pain. insomniabetter sleep maintenance, higher levels of activity during the day and a reduction in the symptoms of fatigue, depression and anxiety.
The find of 2020
The results were so positive that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine listed the study as one of the most important investigations of 2020.
At the time, the principal investigator of the experiment, the psychiatrist and consultant at the department of clinical neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute, Mats Adler, suggested that the explanation could be due to the pressure that the blanket applies to different points of the body and that it would stimulate the sensation that muscles and joints experience when they receive a massage.
Now, with the new research, a new path is opened to explain the success of weighted blankets for the insomnia. However, it must be taken into account, as the authors themselves express in the text, that the sample size is not very large and that it would be highly convenient to try to replicate the results with a larger group.
Also, not everything is gold that glitters with respect to these blankets. Although they do not have reported side effects for health, it must be borne in mind that there are studies that dismantle some of the uses with which they are promoted. In the case of the treatment of sleep disorders in autistic children, an investigation carried out by the Sleep Group of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics did not find any significant difference with respect to the use of a normal duvet, although, curiously, the children preferred sleep with them
As clinical psychologist Michael J. Breus, who has made a name for himself in the sleep field with several bestsellers (Energize, The Power of When), writes in Psychology Today, the gentle, tactile pressure of these blankets can be just as comforting as psychological effects than a hug, which would explain why the children opted for these blankets instead of a normal one. However, the professional also makes one thing clear: a heavy blanket can help, but it can’t do all the work of a good night’s rest. Miracles do not exist.
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