Health Alert: OASIS sleep study treatment for insomnia

September 30, 2002

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(Columbia) Sept. 26, 2002 - Part of Edna Unander's sleep routine is

listening to a relaxation tape.

Unander,74, says getting a good nights sleep used to be impossible. That's

because she suffered from insomnia for more than10 years, " I would wake up

feeling tired before I started the day and I do not like that because I am

active. " Unander is not the only one to suffer from insomnia according to

psychologists.

Rush Presbyterian psychologist Bruce Rybarczyk says about a third of older

adults have trouble sleeping. He adds it doesn't have to be a problem, " You

can train people to re-program their sleep to get back to where it was 20

years ago. " Rybarczyk is doing just that through the older adult sleep

improvement study program or OASIS.

OASIS is a six week home sleep program that doesn't involve any medication.

Before starting the program, a patient's sleep is monitored at home and

analyzed. The study involves educating people about sleep and monitoring

sleep habits with a journal. A patient's sleep schedule is also changed.

Rybarczyk says, " We changed their sleep schedule, make it consistent and put

them in bed for a much shorter period of time. We also give them a series of

behaviors to engage in when they can't fall asleep. " Patients also use

relaxation tapes.

To take part in the oasis study, a patient must be 55 or older and have a

chronic medical condition like coronary artery disease, lung disease or

arthritis. Rybarczyk says people with these medical conditions have the most

trouble with sleeping, " Those three groups show an inordinate number of

sleep problems. "

It's been a couple of months since Unander started the program, but says she

can already see a difference, " It has changed my life. I wake up in the

morning anxious to start the day with an alert feeling. I'm not a victim of

insomnia anymore. "

The OASIS sleep study is funded by the National Institute on Aging. For more

information, call 1-866-55-OASIS. The study is free.

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