TITLE:
A Novel Innovative Sleeping Mattress Could Possibly Save Lives and the National Economy: Small but Solid Evidence from a Medical Perspective
AUTHORS:
Masaki Omura, Nobuhiro Suetake, Kenichi Itao, Takuji Yamaguchi, Ailing Hu, Hiroyuki Kobayashi
KEYWORDS:
Sleeping Mattress, Sleep Deprivation, Mortality Risk, Autonomic Nervous System, Medical Economy
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.12 No.7,
July
20,
2020
ABSTRACT: The RAND Corporation reported that insufficient sleep causes an economic loss of $138 billion (2.92% of GDP) in Japan every year. In this study, we investigated the sleep improvement effect of a novel innovative sleeping mattress called “AiR SI” (Nishikawa Co., Ltd.) to find a simple method to solve the problem of sleep deprivation. We conducted a 2-week randomized, open-label, crossover, self-controlled study in 14 healthy adults in their 30s to 50s (control: 1 week, AiR SI: 1 week), with sleep quality as the primary endpoint as well as salivary components (cortisol, melatonin) and autonomic nervous function (sympathetic nerve, parasympathetic nerve) as secondary endpoints. Trends toward improvement in sleep were suggested for all the endpoints, regardless of differences in the subject background. The results suggested that the use of AiR SI for 1 week not only improved sleep but normalized both the endocrine and autonomic functions as well. We conclude that, by using a sleeping mattress with a high sleep improvement effect, the user may easily achieve higher labor productivity and have a lower mortality risk. Eliminating sleep deprivation with a sleeping mattress may lead to a reduction in national economic losses and ultimately produce significant economic effects.