Web breakthrough for insomniacs

It may sound like a joke for the web generation but a study in the US using the internet to provide treatment for insomniacs has shown promising results.

The software, called SHUTi (Sleep Healthy Using the Internet), does not use a human therapist.

Instead the web-based software provides advice such as specific bedtimes based on the person's sleep diaries.

Patients are also encouraged to learn better sleep habits, including avoiding daytime naps, through stories, quizzes and games.

"This is a very interactive, tailored, personalised program," said study co-author Frances Thorndike of the University of Virginia Health System.

In the nine-week trial, 45 adults with moderate insomnia were recruited and 22 of them were randomly assigned to try the internet program.

The study showed that those patients using the web program woke up fewer times and spent fewer minutes awake during the night.

Jack Edinger, a sleep disorder specialist at Duke University Medical Center, said the results were "fairly impressive and comparable to what you see with more intensive sorts of interventions".

"An internet intervention has the potential of meeting the large unmet treatment need of the population with insomnia by providing effective treatment through the web," the study's authors said.