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Mobile apps emerge as alternative to insomnia treatment without medication (20 notícias)

Publicado em 20 de junho de 2022

In Brazil, where about a third of the population shows symptoms. Insomnia or difficulty sleepingA new generation of cell phone therapies is emerging as an alternative to helping people who often want to solve problems without resorting to medication.

Recent studies by the Instituto do Sono show that 45% of Sao Paulo’s population suffers from insomnia or difficulty sleeping. Also, 15% Chronic insomnia.

In the adult population, Insomnia is more common in women..

The Insomnia is characterized by difficulty in starting and / or maintaining sleep at night as well as waking up early in the morning.. Symptoms should appear 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 cognitive problems, for example long-term memory and reasoning disorders, and symptoms of depression.

Anxiety and depression

Teachers say that insomnia is a condition that causes long-term stress and fatigue in individuals. During this period, it may contribute to the development of depression.

He adds, “A person who lives for a long time only experiences stress, copes with stress, has a lot of anxiety for a long time, is more likely to have depression.”

Already Anxiety disorders appear after the diagnosis of insomnia and can worsen the symptoms. Disorders, especially when not properly treated.

Relationships are called complementary disorders, which can be caused by the presence of another. For example, it is common for an anxious person to have episodes of insomnia, similar to when an insomniac suffers from insomnia and becomes anxious ۔

Insomnia can be linked to any health problem, however people who take too much medicine and whose physical or mental health is poor are more prone to the disease. This does not mean that healthy people cannot develop the condition. The solution for both groups is to get a good night’s sleep.

One click treatment

There are two main pillars of insomnia treatment: the non-drug pathway and the one that uses drugs.

If necessary, Medications should be prescribed by a doctor, used in the lowest possible dose And for a while I looked at the seriousness of the case.

An alternative to prescription drugs for which there is more scientific evidence. CBT-i (Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia)Which can be done in practice or face to face.

Applications aimed at improving consumers’ sleep quality use this therapy, which Works to restore sleep.. The components of the procedure include guidelines for better sleep, elimination of negative attitudes and cognitive restructuring, for example.

Platforms should be scientifically validated and offer therapy in its entirety, not just relaxation techniques. Researchers have shown that these points are not necessary to accelerate insomnia.

“The problem with untreated treatments is that they do not cure insomnia 100%, the person changes the procedure, and insomnia persists,” he reported.

In addition, according to experts, CBT-i can help reduce the need for medication and should therefore be applied responsibly. Applications like SleepUp and Sleep Vigilantes are increasingly available in this market and are meeting this demand.

Sleep

The sleep up app is a digital therapy that has been approved. Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency)Considered a medical software. The platform brings together 13,000 users and is a complete journey for the treatment of sleep disorders, especially insomnia, guided by artificial intelligence, Dr. Moon

The user begins the process by answering seven medical questionnaires, which are related to sleep quality, insomnia, drowsiness, depression, inactive beliefs and chronotype (morning, afternoon or mid-profile).

From them and from the sleep diary, in which he records all his behaviors, the patient assumes that the causes of the disorder are behaviors or cognitive and if there are indications that he has a mental illness other than insomnia.

Based on CBT-i techniques, the app splits the therapy into eight weeks – each referring to the journey the user has to complete. Modules are progressive and use methods that, for example, modify sleep hygiene and passive thoughts.

“We start working on thinking to be able to completely change other emotions, that’s the essence of TCC-i,” said Renata Redondo Bonaldi, co-founder and CEO of SleepUp.

The app also combines treatment with MBCTi (Cognitive-Based Cognitive Therapy for Insomnia), a cognitive-based cognitive therapy. This feature treats and calms thoughts that interfere with sleep.

SleepUp also uses telemedicine and provides sleep professionals with the ability to humanize and complete the medical journey.

Since more than half of consumers consume sleeping pills, the platform has a medication diary to track their effects on sleep measurements.

“We conducted a study to understand how our psychotherapy improves the effectiveness and safety of sleeping pills, and we found that we significantly improved sleep performance, sleep hygiene and insomnia rates. We’ve been able to – three very important metrics. Important. We’ve improved the Insomnia Index by 41%, the Sleep Hygiene Index by 40% and the Sleep Performance by 13%. ” Reports.

In partnership with Samsung Health and Google Fit, the platform also captures biometric signals such as step and heartbeat, and charts the most effective treatment journey for each user, along with clinical trials and sleep diaries. Is.

The app has three plans: one free and two paid.

Sleep watchers

Another app with similar features is Sleep Watch. The goal is to help people sleep better, sleep faster, wake up less at night and be more energized the next day.

The platform also digitized TCC-i, so that anyone could do it and at the right time for them. The program, in addition to keeping a sleep diary, is divided into 5 to 10 minute conversations, conducted five to six times a week with artificial intelligence. Sonia

“Sonia, our artificial intelligence is very intelligent. Depending on what you answer, she will put you in the conversation paths that are most interesting to you, and she is very sympathetic,” said Lucas Baras Figueroa. , CEO and co-founder of Vigilantes Do Sono.

All practices are based on scientific subjects, which are available to read throughout the treatment. Integration with the Apple Health app also collects biometric data from Apple Smartwatch users.

One can follow the evolution of one’s condition and examine through the sleep monitor the techniques that are really working for him. In addition, there is a possibility for special professionals to monitor cases on the platform.

The developer of Sleep Vigilantes claims that 50,000 people have already used this platform.

In addition to these relationships, the application combines objective data, such as the user’s wake number, and thematic data (e.g. desire to wake up) to measure the performance of their methods.

“People who do our program, in the first two weeks, can reduce the amount of time you spend waking up in bed by 27 minutes – the moment you can’t sleep. Increasing the total sleep time to 17 minutes. Continuing the program for seven weeks, they reduced the total time spent in bed by an average of 74 minutes and increased the total sleep time by 59 minutes “, according to Baraças.

The app is paid but its trial period is free.

what’s next?

Even with the potential benefits offered by applications, innovation does not stop there. The co-founder of SleepUp added that the company is patenting the development of wearable electro-encephalogram bands. The algorithm is ready and the hardware structure is in the final stages.

The creation will allow the detection of brain signals and therefore the stages of sleep will be analyzed. With this identification, the application will be able to determine, for example, whether the medication used by the user is actually cooperating with the sleep architecture.

A procedure that can only be found in sleep clinics, through polysomnography, will be accessible for home use.

“The proposal is to integrate this monitoring of brain signals into digital therapy, with clinical validation,” added Renata.

The co-founder of Vigilantes do Sono says that the app will soon be expanded to address emotional health issues as well. In addition, in the future, the initiative will provide in-app care to health professionals.

In addition to these innovations, the program received approval from Fapesp (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) through the Pipe Program (Advanced Research in Small Businesses) for a project worth over 1 million reais, so that such a technology To be prepared. Able to catch sleep deprivation – a rarely diagnosed disease that requires invasive tests to detect – only with a mobile device.

Baraças estimates that, presumably, the device will be available next year.

“It’s an innovative project globally and it’s still based on doctoral dissertations that predict if you have some data on anthropometric measurements. [tamanho do seu pescoço, da língua ou distância entre os olhos]”We were able to predict with more insistence whether you had insomnia or not,” he said.

* On the intern R7 Supervised by Fernando Miles

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