Sweet dreams! The sleep scientists set to make a fortune after GPs were given green light to prescribe their ‘digital sleeping pill’ Sleepio app to Britain’s 800,000 insomniacs
- 800,000 insomnia patients in England may be recommended app treatment
- Sleepio provides six-week self-help programme to patients, including sleep test
- Scientists behind the app include glamorous psychologist and Oxford professor
An Oxford University sleep professor, a glamorous psychologist and an insomniac entrepreneur are among the scientists set to make a fortune after GPs were instructed to recommend their app to Brits struggling to sleep.
Sleepio will now be recommended to 800,000 insomniacs across the UK in place of sleeping pills like zolpidem and zopiclone.
The app provides people with a six-week self-help programme, including a sleep test, weekly therapy sessions and a diary for patients to log their sleeping patterns.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which produces guidelines for medics, said the move will prevent people becoming hooked on powerful drugs.
It means that the scientists behind the are now set to earn a fortune with nearly a million new customers – and with the app costing £45 per patient.
The app was crafted by Big Health, a firm co-founded by Oxford University sleep expert Professor Colin Espie and entrepreneur Peter Hames.
Mr Hames has spoken about his ‘incredibly distressing experience’ with insomnia and his frustration at the lack of non-medical treatments available for it.
Glamorous psychologist Dr Vicki Creanor, who works in the child and adolescent mental health service within the NHS, is involved in Sleepio
Around 800,000 people in England struggling to sleep, who would usually be offered pills such as zolpidem and zopiclone, are set to be recommended Sleepio. The app provides people with a six-week self-help programme, including a sleep test, weekly therapy sessions and a diary for patients to log their sleeping patterns
He then read one of Prof Espie’s self-help books on cognitive behavioral therapy and was stunned by its effectivness.
Mr Hames said he wanted to give others access to the same treatment so got in touch with Prof Espie, the duo going on to create Big Health.
The company has gone to get investment from firms such as Samsung and European investors Octopus Ventures, as well as Chinese firm Morningside.
Among their advisers is form NHS chief medical director Sir Bruce Keogh.
Their doctors include glamorous psychologist Dr Vicki Creanor, who works in the child and adolescent mental health service within the NHS.
She wrote a thesis on childhood sleep problems and has previously spoken about the effectiveness of CBT to tackle insomnia.
She told Woman and Home: ‘The definition of insomnia is dissatisfaction with the quality or amount of sleep you’re getting, whether this is due to difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep through the night, waking up at the same time every night, or waking too early.
‘CBT is an evidence-based talking therapy that has been around for decades and is deemed the ‘gold-standard’ treatment for many mental health problems—such as anxiety, depression and sleep problems.’
She also previously told Glamour that ‘consistency’ is important for good sleep.
She said: ‘The brain loves routine; it is necessary for it to get into a pattern, and when the mind and body is in a pattern that is predictable, it’s much easier to sleep.’
The app was crafted by Big Health, a firm co-founded by Oxford University sleep expert Professor Colin Espie and entrepreneur Peter Hames
In an interview with Forbes discussing Sleepio, Mr Hames previously said: ‘Sleepio, was born out of my own experience with insomnia – an incredibly distressing experience.
‘I’m fortunate enough to have a degree in Experimental Psychology, so I know there’s strong evidence behind non-drug therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). But when I asked my doctor for a course of CBT, all he would give me was sleeping pills.
‘Out of desperation I got my hands on a self-help book written by world sleep expert Prof. Colin Espie, and used it to self-administer a program of CBT.
‘Although it was a very manual process, I was sleeping well after just a few weeks.’
Discussing their partnership with the NHS, Mr Hames previously added: ‘We founded Big Health in the UK and we’re passionate supporters of the NHS – I truly believe it’s one of the wonders of the world.
Struggling with insomnia? The sleep apps available for you
Calm
Cost: Free for a week and then £29.99 for the year.
What it does:
The Calm app features meditation tools and techniques to improve sleep.
Apple named it the 2017 iPhone app of the year and it promises to help users sleep better.
It also vows to boost confidence and reduce stress and anxiety.
The app uses soothing music, bedtime stories and meditations.
One of its most popular features is its celebrity sleep stories.
Harry Styles. Matthew McConaughey, Idris Elba, Laura Dern, Kate Winslet and Lucy Liu are some of the celebs who have read sleep stories for the app.
Headspace
Cost: Free 10 session pack. After that it is £9.99 a month or £74.99 a year.
What it does:
Endorsed by Emma Watson, the app uses spoken word exercises which take up ten minutes a day.
It guides users through mindfulness practices and offers meditations for sleep, focus, stress, sadness, and resilience.
It also offers workouts, SOS meditation sessions for panic or anxiety and ‘mini meditations’.
However, it does not have a sleep tracking system.
Sleepio
Cost: £45
What it does:
Sleepio uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to provide people with tailored digital cognitive behavioural therapy.
These sessions identify thoughts, feelings and behaviours that stop people from sleeping and promotes a healthy sleep routine.
Patients can also access electronic articles, online tools and talk to other users for support.
The programme is designed to be completed in six weeks but people have full access to the programme for 12 months from registration, so they can complete it at their own pace and revisit sessions.
Patients can now access Sleepio through a self-referral or their GP.
Buddhify
Cost: £3.99 for iOS and £1.99 for Android
What it does:
Buddhify is described as an app that ‘that allows users to integrate meditation into their daily activities’.
It’s meditation sessions are grouped by what you’re doing at the time.
The groupings include waking up, taking a break at work and waiting around.
They also deal with other situations including dealing with stress and struggling to sleep.
For each situation, you can choose from different exercises that vary in duration and there are more than 80 tracks.
‘Our purpose is to help millions back to good mental health, and that’s our guiding light.’
The app, which has been described as a digital sleeping pill, is expected to save the NHS money due to fewer GP appointments and fewer pills being prescribed.
Jeanette Kusel, acting director for MedTech and digital at NICE, said Sleepio, which costs £45 per patient, is a ‘good example’ of how digital health technology can help the NHS.
Sleepio uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to provide people with tailored digital cognitive behavioural therapy.
These sessions identify thoughts, feelings and behaviours that stop people from sleeping and promotes a healthy sleep routine.
Patients can also access electronic articles, online tools and talk to other users for support.
The programme is designed to be completed in six weeks but people have full access to the programme for 12 months from registration, so they can complete it at their own pace and revisit sessions.
Patients can access Sleepio through a self-referral or their GP.
The app was crafted by Big Health, a firm co-founded by Oxford University sleep expert Professor Colin Espie.
Evidence from 12 randomised trials, examined by NICE, showed that the app is more effective at reducing insomnia than sleeping pills.
A two to four-week course of prescription-only tablet zolpidem or zopiclone, which cost as little as 9p per pill, is currently offered to insomnia patients.
But they often make patients tired in the day, have a dry mouth or a metallic taste in the mouth. The drugs can also cause serious side effects including falls, memory loss, and hallucinations.
And analysis of costs at nine GP practice in England, where the app was trialled for one year, showed it saved the NHS £90 per patient over three years.
However, the NICE guidance notes that GPs should complete a medical assessment before referring pregnant patients and those with multiple underlying conditions to the app, in case they are suffering from other complications that mimic insomnia.
One in six Britons suffer from sleep problems, with stress, anxiety and depression often to blame.
And nearly one in 10 suffer from anxiety, according to charities.
Sleepio, and its sister app for anxiety Daylight, have been available at all 14 NHS trusts in Scotland since October, prompting warnings at the time of a ‘postcode lottery’ of care for patients across the UK.
Ms Kusel said: ‘Until now people with insomnia have been offered sleeping pills and taught about sleep hygiene.
‘So our committee’s recommendation of Sleepio provides GPs and their patients with a new treatment option.
‘Our rigorous, transparent and evidence-based analysis has found that Sleepio is cost saving for the NHS compared with usual treatments in primary care.
‘It will also reduce people with insomnia’s reliance on dependence forming drugs such as zolpidem and zopiclone.
‘This is a good example of where a digital health technology can help the NHS.
‘The evidence has shown using Sleepio reduces the number of GP appointments people with insomnia need and will also cut the number of prescriptions for sleeping pills delivered by pharmacists.’
Professor Guy Leschziner, consultant neurologist at King’s College London, said cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia ‘has been shown as being as effective as drugs, with some evidence that duration of effectiveness is longer’.
‘Additionally it does not risk adverse effects as some drugs do,’ he said.
The app provides a ‘much broader reach and accessibility’ than current therapy treatments, Professor Leschziner added.
Source: Read Full Article
