Weighted duvets and shift-working ambulance drivers

Sleep is necessary for us to recover. During sleep, the body cools down, blood pressure drops, heart rate and body temperature go down, breathing becomes less frequent and muscles relax. A new study shows that three out of four people get better sleep with the CURA duvet.

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During the summer of 2020, Region Västernorrland conducted a study on 30 shift-working ambulance drivers to evaluate how the CURA duvet affected the sleep of ambulance drivers at Sundsvall Hospital.

– To meet the challenges of the future in healthcare, we need to do more to avoid getting sick. Being able to fall asleep, get enough deep sleep and wake up rested is extremely important for us to stay healthy, says Anders Söderlind, responsible for the study at Region Västernorrland.

Improved sleep quality

The study shows that 73 percent of ambulance drivers had improved sleep quality.

–  I feel that I got a much better quality of sleep and that I no longer wake up several times during the night. With the weighted blankets, I sleep until the bell rings, says one of the ambulance drivers who participated in the study.

– I use a smartwatch that records sleep and now I have more time during the deep sleep stack. So I sleep well and have a very good experience with the weighted duvet," says another of the ambulance drivers.

Replenishing the brain's fuel supply

Good sleep is not only good for the body, it is also vital for brain function.

– Sleeping replenishes the brain's fuel supply, consolidates memory and clears out unnecessary memories. Unwanted by-products from the brain's energy metabolism are cleared out and emotional balance is restored,' says Sweden's leading sleep expert, Professor Torbjörn Åkerstedt, who is a member of CURA's expert panel.

Releasing the feel-good hormone

The study showed that several aspects of sleep were affected by weight-bearing. The biggest difference was in the ability to maintain sleep. The explanation is that the weight of the CURA duvet stimulates receptors in the skin, releasing several endogenous hormones that have a calming and sleep-inducing effect, including the feel-good hormone oxytocin.

–  This type of stimulation brings out the calming, anti-stress and healing effects of the feel-good hormone," says Professor Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg, a pioneer in feel-good hormone research.

Find out more about the results.

Text: Poul Heie