Insomnia treatment may have long-term beneficial effects on the health of your brain. Study in the Journal Biological Psychiatry published in February, 2015 looked at 123 older adults with chronic insomnia who were randomized to one of two active treatments (twice-weekly cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTi) for 4 months or a relaxation therapy) or a control group who received educational sessions about sleep hygiene.
Both active treatments were associated with improvements in insomnia. CBTi was associated with the most durable improvements. Those who received this treatment had sleep improvements that were maintained for at least 16 months after the intervention (the length of the study), whereas the results from the relaxation therapy gradually diminished after the treatment was over.
Compared with the control, CBT-I reduced systemic inflammation, as measured by C-reactive protein, as well as pro-inflammatory gene expression.
Steven Dubovsky reviewing the article in Journal Watch Psychiatry, writes that:
” Older — and probably all — patients with insomnia should be offered one of these evidence-based treatments and should probably be monitored for depression and medical consequences of inflammation.”
We offer access to an online CBTi treatment which, while not as intensive as the one study, has been shown to have significant beneficial effects that are also very durable, and you can receive this treatment in the privacy of your own home. For more information click here – CBTi Online – SHUTi.
REFERENCE
1. Irwin MR et al. Cognitive behavioral therapy and tai chi reverse cellular and genomic markers of inflammation in late life insomnia: A randomized controlled trial. Biol Psychiatry 2015 Feb 4; [e-pub]. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.01.010)