In Brazil, about a third of the population shows signs insomnia or difficulty sleeping a new generation of cell phone treatment has emerged as an alternative to help people who want to solve the problem, often without resorting to medication.
Recent studies by the Instituto do Sono have shown that 45% of São Paulo residents report insomnia or difficulty sleeping. In addition, 15% win chronic insomnia.
According to Dalva Poyares, a professor of sleep medicine at Unifesp (Federal University of São Paulo) and a medical researcher at the São Paulo Sleep Institute, among the adult population, insomnia is more common in women.
LA Insomnia is characterized by difficulty in starting and / or maintaining sleep during the night, as well as waking up early in the morning.. Symptoms must occur at least three times a week for at least three months to qualify as a chronic condition.
There are several consequences associated with chronic insomnia, such as: increased risk of high blood pressure, metabolic and mental problems, for example, long-term memory and reasoning problems, and depressive symptoms.
anxiety and depression
The professor explains that insomnia is a disease that causes prolonged stress in people and tires the body. During this period, it can contribute to the development of depression.
“A person who lives for a long time just experiences stress, coping with stress, having a lot of problems for a long time, is more likely to develop depression,” he added.
already there Anxiety disorders appear after the diagnosis of insomnia and may worsen the symptoms of the disease, especially when not properly treated.
The relationship is called complementary illness, which can arise due to the presence of the other. For example, it is common for an anxious person to have episodes of insomnia, in the same way that an insomniac may have feelings of anxiety when they cannot sleep and end up becoming anxious.
Insomnia can be related to any health problem, however people who take more medication and have poorer physical or mental health suffer more from the condition. This does not mean that healthy people cannot develop the disease. The solution for both groups is to prioritize a good night’s sleep.
One-click treatment
Treatment of insomnia has two main pillars: the non-drug route and the non-drug route.
If necessary, Medications must be prescribed by a physician, use in the lowest possible dose and for a period that I have seen depends on the severity of the case.
The most scientifically proven over-the-counter alternative medicine is there CBT-i (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia) which can be done normally or face-to-face.
Applications aimed at improving the quality of sleep users make use of this therapy, which acting on sleep reeducation. Elements of the procedure include instructions for better sleep, exclusion of unfavorable behavior and mental restructuring, for example.
The platforms must be scientifically validated and offer therapy in a comprehensive way, not just with relaxation techniques. The researcher points out that these points are essential for not intensifying insomnia.
“The problem with non-validated treatment is that they don’t improve insomnia 100%, the person changes modalities, and insomnia is perpetuated,” she reports.
Also according to the expert, CBT-i can help reduce the need for medication and, therefore, should be implemented responsibly. Applications such as SleepUp and Sleep Vigilantes are increasingly present in this market and meet this demand.
sleep
The SleepUp application is a digital therapy approved by Anvisa (National Agency for Health Surveillance), being considered a medical software. The platform has accumulated 13,000 users and has the complete journey for the treatment of sleep disorders, especially insomnia, guided by an artificial intelligence, Dr. the moon.
The user begins the process by answering seven clinical questionnaires, which address sleep quality, insomnia, drowsiness, depression, dysfunctional beliefs, and chronotype (morning, afternoon, or intermediate profile).
From them and in the sleep diary, where he records all his behavior, the patient understands whether the causes of the disease are behavioral or mental and whether there are indications that he has any psychiatric illness other than insomnia.
Based on CBT-i techniques, the application divides the therapy into eight weeks – each one referring to the user’s journey to be completed. The modules are progressive and use methods that, for example, address sleep hygiene and modify dysfunctional thinking.
“We are starting to work on thinking to be able to modify other feelings completely, this is the essence of TCC-i,” informs Renata Redondo Bonaldi, co-founder and CEO of SleepUp.
The application also combines treatment with MBCTi (mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia), which is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. The feature treats and calms the thoughts that get in the way of sleep.
SleepUp also uses telemedicine and provides sleep professionals to humanize and complement the therapy journey.
As more than half of users take sleeping pills, the platform has a medication journal to track their impact on sleep measurements.
“We conducted a study to understand how much our psychotherapy improved the effectiveness and safety of sleeping pills, and we found that we were able to significantly improve sleep efficiency, sleep hygiene and the insomnia rate – three very important measures. We improved the insomnia index by 41%, sleep hygiene index by 40% and sleep efficiency by 13 percentage points ”, reported the CEO.
In partnership with Samsung Health and Google Fit, the platform also captures biometric signals such as steps and heart rate, and along with clinical trials and sleep journals, the most effective therapeutic travel charts for each user.
The application has three plans: one free and two paid.
sleep overseer
Another application with similar features is Sleep Watch. Its purpose is to help people sleep better, fall asleep faster, wake up less at night and feel more energized the next day.
The platform was also TCC-i digital, so it could be done by anyone and at the right time for them. The program, in addition to having a sleep diary, is divided into 5 to 10 minute conversations, held five to six times a week with the artificial intelligence, Dr. Sonia.
“Sônia, our artificial intelligence, is super-intelligent. Depending on what you answer, it will throw you into the most interesting conversation path for you, and it’s very sympathetic,” said Lucas Baraças Figueiredo, CEO and co-founder of Vigilantes. do Sono.
All processes are based on scientific articles, which are available throughout the treatment. Through integration with the Apple Health app, biometric data from Apple smartwatch users is also collected.
The person can follow the evolution of his condition and evaluate the techniques that are really effective for him through a sleep monitor. In addition, there is the possibility for specialized professionals to monitor the cases on the platform.
Developer Sleep Vigilantes claims that 50,000 people have already used the platform.
In addition to these relationships, the application combines objective data, such as the number of times the user got up, with subjective data (willingness to wake up, for example) to measure the effectiveness of its methods.
“People who do our program, in the first two weeks, can already reduce their bedtime by 27 minutes – the time when you can’t sleep. Increase total sleep time by 17 minutes. Those who continued in the program for up to seven weeks reduced, on average, 74 minutes of their total time spent in bed and increased the total sleep time by 59 minutes, ”reports Baraças.
The application is paid but has a free trial period
what’s next
Even in the face of the potential benefits already offered in their applications, their innovations do not stop. Co-founder SleepUp adds that the company has patented the development of a wearable electroencephalogram band. The ready algorithm and hardware structure is in the final stages.
The creation will allow the detection of brain signals and, therefore, the analysis of sleep stages. From this recognition, the application will be able to, for example, know whether the medication used by the user is, in fact, collaborating with the sleep architecture.
A procedure that could be found only in sleep clinics, through a polysomnography, will be accessible for home use.
“The proposal is to carry out precisely this monitoring of brain signals integrated into digital therapy, and clinical validation”, adds Renata.
Co-founder Vigilantes do Sono says the application will soon be expanded to address emotional health issues. In addition, in the future, the initiative will provide care and health professionals directly to the application.
Along with these innovations, the program has received approval for a project worth more than a million reais from FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo), through the Pipe program (Innovative Research in Small Business), to develop a technology that is capable of taking sleep apnea – an undiagnosed disorder that requires invasive testing for detection – only with the mobile device.
Baraças estimates that, perhaps, the tool will be available next year.
“This is an innovative project on a global level and is still based on doctoral theses that predict if you have some anthropometric measurement data [tamanho do seu pescoço, da língua ou distância entre os olhos]we could predict with greater assertiveness if you don’t have apnea, ”he informs.
.* The internal R7 under the supervision of Fernando Mellis