Testing & Tracking
Eight Sleep, ChiliSleep, and Temperature-Controlled Sleep Tech
Active mattress temperature control — water-circulated cooling and heating beneath a fitted topper — has emerged from a niche sleep-optimization product category into one of the most-evidenced consumer sleep interventions of the past decade. The…
Polysomnography vs Home Sleep Apnea Testing
Sleep-disordered breathing — primarily obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) — is one of the most common, most underdiagnosed, and most consequential conditions in adult medicine. Untreated moderate-to-severe OSA is associated with hypertension, atrial…
WatchPAT and Consumer Sleep Trackers — Validity for Sleep
Wrist-worn and finger-worn sleep tracking has become ubiquitous in the optimization community. Two distinct categories of devices are commonly confused: FDA-cleared home sleep apnea test (HSAT) devices like WatchPAT (Itamar Medical), and consumer…
Compounds & Therapies
DORAs — Dual Orexin Receptor Antagonists
Dual orexin receptor antagonists (DORAs) are the first novel mechanism approved for primary insomnia since the Z-drugs (zolpidem, eszopiclone, zaleplon) entered the market in the 1990s. Three are FDA-approved as of 2026: suvorexant (Belsomra,…
DSIP — Delta Sleep-Inducing Peptide
Delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) is a small (nine amino acid) neuropeptide first identified in 1977 by Monnier and colleagues in Switzerland, isolated from the cerebral venous blood of rabbits exposed to electrical stimulation that induced…
Low-Dose Doxepin (Silenor)
Doxepin is a tricyclic antidepressant that has been on the U.S. market since 1969. At antidepressant doses (75–300 mg/day), it has the classic tricyclic side-effect profile — anticholinergic dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, orthostatic…
Pharmaceutical-Grade GABA
γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. Oral GABA supplements have been marketed for decades for stress, anxiety, sleep, and general relaxation. The classical neuroscience…
Trazodone for Sleep
Trazodone is an FDA-approved antidepressant from 1981 that has, almost entirely off-label, become the most-prescribed sleep medication in the United States. At antidepressant doses (150–600 mg/day), it is an SSRI-era predecessor with a tolerability…