A University of Virginia study finds cancer patients get a better night's sleep by going online.
Researcher Lee Ritterband developed the SHUTi interactive website. It allows users to keep an online diary of their sleep habits and makes recommendations on the best time for them to "hit the hay".
Ritterband tracked 14 survivors from the UVA Cancer Center. The study found significant improvements in how fast they fell asleep and the soundness of that sleep by using the SHUTi program.
UVA Behavioral Health & Technology associate professor Lee Ritterband said, "This is obviously a group that the last thing they want to do is take more drugs and more drugs that may not have long-term effects for them. So, this is a way they can implement a behavioral approach that they can do from the comfort of their own home in their own time and have really good results."
Sixty percent of cancer patients and survivors suffer from sleep disorders. Ritterband's research is currently recruiting 300 people for a nationwide test of SHUTi.
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