JPH1157010A - Sleep differentiation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To differentiate sleeps correctly and use it for evaluation of bedclothes by measuring the concentration of neurotransmitters such as epinephrine in body fluids such as blood. SOLUTION: Neurotransmitters are substances that transmit information among neurons and include catecholamines such as dopamine and cholines such as acetylcholine. What is preferred as a marker is neurotransmitters of the sympathetic nerve system, and catecholamines are preferred above all, and especially what is preferred is epinephrine. As a specimen intended to measure a quantitative change in the neurotransmitters may be blood, saliva, urine or cerebrospinal fluid. The blood is particularly preferred. In the evaluation of bedclothes, the goodness or badness of a sleep obtained during the sleep using such bedclothes is used as an indicator, and when lowering in the concentration of the neurotransmitters is 50% or less of that before the sleep, they are considered good bedclothes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for identifying sleep which is suitable for evaluating bedding and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Sleep is an important physiological action that is indispensable to animals and plants, including humans, and there are various types of sleep such as REM sleep and non-REM sleep. It is also known that there is good sleep and sleep of poor quality. However, what are the characteristics of good sleep?
The nature of poor sleep quality has not been fully elucidated. Further, as a means of knowing the characteristics of sleep, current methods of measuring brain waves and measuring small electric currents in various parts of the body are both required, which both require large-scale devices. Therefore, sleep cannot be evaluated easily.

[0003] As described above, sleep has a significant meaning in a living body, and various products have recently been developed for bedding that greatly influences this. However, as described above, it is difficult to evaluate the sleep itself, so it cannot be said that accurate evaluation has not been made at present. That is, the development of a technology for objectively and accurately evaluating bedding has been desired.

On the other hand, at present, nothing is known about the relationship between neurotransmitters such as dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine and acetylcholine and sleep.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in such a situation, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and accurate sleep discriminating method suitable for evaluating bedding and the like.

[0006]

In view of such a situation, the present inventors have conducted intensive studies to find a simple and accurate sleep discrimination method suitable for evaluation of bedding and the like. The present inventors have found that sleep can be accurately distinguished by measuring the concentration of a neurotransmitter such as epinephrine in the present invention, and have completed the invention. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail focusing on embodiments.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(1) Sleep Differentiation Method of the Present Invention The sleep differentiation method of the present invention is characterized by using a change in the amount of a neurotransmitter in a body fluid as an index. Here, a neurotransmitter is a substance that transmits information between neurons in an organism, and examples thereof include catecholamines such as dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine and cholines such as acetylcholine. Any of these can be used, and a single concentration thereof, or a change in two or more concentrations selected from these concentrations can be used as an index. Preferred as indicators are neurotransmitters of the sympathetic nervous system, among which catecholamines are preferred, and epinephrine is particularly preferred. Also, as a sample for measuring the change in the amount of these neurotransmitters,
There is no particular limitation as long as it is a bodily fluid, and any of blood, saliva, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid can be used, and blood is particularly preferable. In the case of blood, the measurement of the amount can be represented by measuring the concentration, since the total blood volume can be regarded as constant. In the case of urine or the like, it can be represented by the concentration with respect to the metabolic rate. As the concentration with respect to the metabolic amount, a value obtained by dividing the urine concentration by the urine creatine concentration can be used. It is preferable that the measurement be performed immediately after the end of sleep (wake-up) to about 30 minutes later. When using blood as body fluid,
At this time, when the amount of catecholamines such as epinephrine in the blood is small and the amount of choline such as acetylcholine is large, sleep is in a state of lack, and it can be discriminated that preferable sleep was not obtained, and the amount of catecholamine was determined. If the amount of choline is small, sleep is sufficient,
It can be determined that a good sleep has been obtained. Methods for quantifying these neurotransmitters have already been established and can be measured, for example, by high performance liquid chromatography using a fluorescent agent. In addition, some vendors accept such measurement, and it is also possible to use it. Like this,
By discriminating sleep, the bedding used to obtain the sleep can be evaluated, and accumulated fatigue and lack of sleep that have not become apparent can be known.

(2) Method of Evaluating Bedding of the Present Invention The method of evaluating bedding of the present invention is characterized in that the quality of sleep obtained when sleeping using the bedding is evaluated as an index. That is, for example, blood is collected before going to bed, sleep is taken with the bedding to be evaluated, blood is collected again, changes in the amount of neurotransmitters in these bloods are examined, and the sympathetic nervous system If the amount of transmitter is not reduced, the bedding can be evaluated as an excellent bedding. Since this decrease can be expressed as a continuous numerical value, sleep can be evaluated quantitatively. The type of bedding to which this evaluation method can be applied is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a comforter, a mattress, a mattress, a mattress, a futon cover, a pillow, pajamas, and a negligee. These conventional evaluation methods are based only on statistical analysis of subjective evaluation in actual use tests, and there are aspects that are hardly objective, but according to the present invention, they can be expressed as objective numbers. Objective evaluation became possible. In the evaluation method of the present invention, if the amount of catecholamines in the body fluid after waking up is large or the amount of choline is small, the bedding can be evaluated as a good bedding.
On the contrary, it can be evaluated that the bedding is not good.
In particular, when the decrease in catecholamines is 50% or less compared to before bedtime, it can be determined that the bedding is excellent.

[0009]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited only to these examples.

<Example 1> Blood was collected from 12 healthy panelists and 13 panelists suffering from lack of sleep before and after sleep, and blood levels of epinephrine, a catecholamine, were measured. Changes in the amount of epinephrine were examined. Epinephrine was measured by an external contract tester. Table 1 shows the results. This indicates that the group that complains of lack of sleep significantly decreases epinephrine significantly. From this, it can be seen that sleep quality can be distinguished by the degree of decrease in catecholamines. Further, it can be seen that when the decrease rate of epinephrine exceeds 50%, the sleep situation deteriorates.

[0011]

[Table 1]

Example 2 A sleep test was conducted using three panelists. That is, the electrodes were attached to a panel and the subject was allowed to sleep, and the sleep state was observed using brain waves as an index. Sleep was identified as good, normal, or poor based on the EEG pattern. In the same manner as in Example 1, changes in epinephrine before and after sleep were measured. Table 2 shows the results. This indicates that the same results as in Example 1 were obtained. That is, it can be understood that the sleep can be distinguished with the same accuracy without using a large-scale and expensive device such as an electroencephalogram measuring device by the distinguishing method of the present invention.

[0013]

[Table 2]

<Embodiment 3> Sleep conditions of three types of pillows were examined in the same manner as in Embodiment 2 using ten panelists. The usability of this product was evaluated by a questionnaire. The evaluation was based on the following criteria: score 2: very easy to sleep, score 1: easy to sleep, score 0.5: slightly difficult to sleep, score 0: difficult to sleep. Table 3 shows the results. This indicates that the evaluation of the bedding and the epinephrine reduction rate are significantly related. In addition, the results show that the bedding can be evaluated using the sleep identification method of the present invention.

[0015]

[Table 3]

Example 4 The bedding quality was evaluated by applying the sleep discrimination method of the present invention. That is, 5 days at 30 ° C for 2 days.
Two days at 5 ° C., five panelists compared the bedding condition of a futon filled with ordinary cotton and a duvet. 30 ° C, 5 ° C
At, the panelists had to sleep on a cotton futon for one day and another for a day. Blood was collected before and after going to bed and the average decrease in epinephrine was measured. The results are shown in Table 4 as the average reduction rate of epinephrine. It has been confirmed that the cotton futon is more comfortable in hot conditions and the duvet is more comfortable in cold conditions. That is, according to the present invention, it can be understood that the bedding can be accurately evaluated.

[0017]

[Table 4]

[0018]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a simple and accurate sleep discriminating method suitable for evaluating bedding and the like.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A method for distinguishing sleep using the concentration of a neurotransmitter in a body fluid as an index. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the neurotransmitter is epinephrine. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the body fluid is blood. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a body fluid is collected immediately after waking up, a concentration of the neurotransmitter in the body fluid is measured, and sleep is identified using the concentration of the neurotransmitter as an index. The method for identifying sleep according to any one of the above. 5. A method of evaluating bedding using the sleep quality determined by the sleep determination method according to claim 1 as an index. 6. The method for distinguishing sleep according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein:
The bedding evaluation method according to claim 5, wherein the decrease in the concentration of the neurotransmitter is preferably 50% or less. 7. The method for distinguishing sleep according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein:
A bedding characterized by a decrease in neurotransmitter concentration of 50% or less.