Health
Warm Up for Snoozing
If you think getting a good night's sleep is all in the mind, you probably have the wrong end of the stick -- or the body. Research now shows the secret to a sound snooze is in the feet -- and a good hot water bottle.
A study at the Psychiatric University Clinic in Basel, Switzerland, shows feet and hands that are warmer than the rest of the body are indications the person is about to fall asleep. So, they surmised in their report, published in the science journal Nature, that warming up the extremities should speed up the descent into sleep, and even cure insomnia.
And so it proved, when the researchers put 18 men to bed in a dimly lit room at a temperature of about 22 degrees Centigrade. They found sleep came easiest when the body's core temperature dropped but rose in the feet and hands.
So a hot water bottle between the feet should send you heading gently, and swiftly into the land of Nod. The researchers also noted individuals with particularly icy feet could trick themselves into falling asleep by wrapping up in warm socks and mittens.
A study at the Psychiatric University Clinic in Basel, Switzerland, shows feet and hands that are warmer than the rest of the body are indications the person is about to fall asleep. So, they surmised in their report, published in the science journal Nature, that warming up the extremities should speed up the descent into sleep, and even cure insomnia.
And so it proved, when the researchers put 18 men to bed in a dimly lit room at a temperature of about 22 degrees Centigrade. They found sleep came easiest when the body's core temperature dropped but rose in the feet and hands.
So a hot water bottle between the feet should send you heading gently, and swiftly into the land of Nod. The researchers also noted individuals with particularly icy feet could trick themselves into falling asleep by wrapping up in warm socks and mittens.
