undefined | Better HN

0 pointspartycoder8y ago0 comments

Melatonin has a strong influence on the circadian rhythm regulation and is nowhere to be found in the article.

If you suffer insomnia this is where you should be starting with.

PS: I suffered insomnia, spent a lot of time working through it, and got medical advice.

Prefer residences and offices with natural light, or take a walk outside around noon (wear sunscreen). There you go...

Then, amount of papers doesn't necessarily translate into scientific rigor. Since research universities adopted a "publish or perish" policy there's a deluge of junk science.

update: corrected typo

0 comments

csmajorfive8y ago

Thanks for the feedback. I'll add that to the "common wisdom" invariants to clarify that's an assumed prerequisite.

FWIW, I live in California and spent four months on the beach prior to undergoing this regimen.

disinterred8y ago

This algorithmic method is a useful addition to the insomniac's toolkit. Please don't berate methodologies based on logic and then describe anecdotes with poor english (wtf is "singlest"?).

partycoderOP8y ago

Or placebo effect, we don't know. It's self experimentation, there's no control group, no accompanying data, etc.

The perceived improvement could be due to other reasons rather than the therapy itself.

Usually you establish a relationship between the therapy and results through something like statistical significance but this was not the case.

Then, it is important to be responsible when offering health related advice to people. If you are not a healthcare professional, start saying:

1) Follow this advice at your own risk

2) I am not a healthcare professional this is a casual exploration of my sleep cycle.

I think this is more responsible than implying this followed some sort of scientific approach.

PS: rather than the ad-hominem try to add value to the discussion staying on topic.

riwsky8y ago

Definitely agree that people should be responsible when offering health advice - but if you’re striking down advice that:

1) ultimately came from a professional 2) was linked to a program with a bunch of literature

You risk your “Pseudoscience!” claim becoming unfalsifiable. What would it take to be, in your eyes, Not Pseudoscience? A direct link to a paper on this exact algorithm?

vinceguidry8y ago

Placebo effect working for sleep disorders? Kind of reminds me of trying to rigorously test psychoactive drugs.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse