Loading ...KANSAS CITY, Mo — Most Americans don’t get enough sleep. Lack of sleep has been linked to several serious diseases including heart disease, obesity, even cancer.
Despite these findings, experts say the majority of Americans are not getting the recommend 7.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night.
A CD called “Speed Sleep” promises to give you the feeling of deep sleep in just 25 minutes, “without the side effects of prescription drugs or other sleep aids”, according to the company’s Web site.
We decided to put it to the test. Our test subject is a busy mother of three.
Like so many of us, Angie’s life is made even more challenging because she doesn’t get enough sleep.
She says she averages about five hours of sleep per night. When we asked her to test the “Speed Sleep” CD, Angie was skeptical but eager.
“It sounds very fictional but it would be worth a try,” she said.
To test the “Speed Sleep” CD, we took Angie to the sleep lab experts at the Cass Regional Medical Center in Harrisonville, Missouri.
While Angie listened to the CD, sleep services coordinator Rebecca Wagner monitored Angie’s brain waves with special equipment.
Thirteen minutes after the CD began, Angie’s brain wave activity showed she entered sleep stage one. That means she was just beginning to fall asleep.
After seventeen minutes, Angie reached sleep stage two. That’s the ideal sleep stage for a power nap.
Twenty-four minutes into the twenty-five minute CD, a voice on the CD told Angie to wake up. Rebecca saw a quick change in Angie’s brain waves, and as instructed by the CD, Angie woke up.
“At the very end of the CD it was like, ‘You’re rejuvenated, you’re successful. Go out and conquer the world!’ And I was like, ‘Let’s go! I’m ready to conquer the world!’”
The CDs music, combined with the narrator’s calm voice seemed to do the trick, helping Angie to fall asleep.
Our sleep expert says Angie got a great nap but she never advanced to a deep sleep stage.
“Speed Sleep” offers a second CD to help you sleep through the night. Our expert disagrees with how that CD works.
Rebecca says listening to a CD requires your brain to be active. If your mind is engaged in an activity like listening while you sleep, you’re not giving your brain an opportunity to truly rest.
We contacted the makers of “Speed Sleep” to get a response to our investigation.
A customer service representative told us we would hear back from a company spokesperson, but they have not returned our calls.
Posted under Kansas City News, Najahe Sherman
This post was written by admin on February 20, 2010
