ReZoom

Brainwave CDs, which can put you into a variety of altered states, may be the wave of future.Those Hard-to-Net ZZZZs

Let's face it. Sleep has often been a kind of elusive fairy dust for baby boomers. When we weren't stressing over the state of the world, we were stressing over our kids, our inflated schedules and now our receding hairlines (and, for some of us, our memories). And no one wants to get on that sleeping pill bandwagon. Remember that Mary Tyler Moore episode? Even Mary couldn't stop taking them. Lou had to intercede.

Now there comes a technology on compact disc that uses what are called our brain's "binaural beats" to help us sleep and relax, depending on which CD you choose. CDs from companies like The Monroe Institute and Binaural Beats.com come in all four sets of brainwaves: alpha, beta, theta and delta. However, the one that may has much significance for baby boomers is the delta CD, which puts you in a dream-like state within minutes, even with headphones on.

Binaural beats were discovered in 1839 by Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. In nature, two sounds that are similar but slightly shifted in frequency will beat to produce two new frequencies. The brain produces a similar phenomenon. To say more would be like trying to explain dark matter. Suffice it to say, the science is there.

The Undulating Brain Wave

Delta is the slowest of all our brain wave frequencies and is associated with deep sleep. Certain frequencies in delta also trigger the release of Human Growth Hormone (or HGH), considered beneficial for healing and regeneration, hence the term "recuperative" sleep.

Delta is also the brain wave signal of the subconscious, where intuition lives ... if we could just figure out when he or she was at home. Getting in touch with delta means diving into a wellspring of information.

Sleep Acrhitecture

As we get older, our sleep patterns change. We have a harder time falling asleep and staying asleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, it is a common misconception that sleep needs decline with age. In fact, they say, research demonstrates that our sleep needs remain constant throughout adulthood. What changes is what specialists call our "sleep architecture." The result is a decline in REM sleep and an increase in fragmented sleep.

"As you age, the height, or the amplitude, of your brainwaves goes down," says Dr. Kim Hutchison, a sleep expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Sleep Dosorders Center. "That is just part of the aging process. As your waves get lower in amplitude, then they may not qualify to be considered delta, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are not getting recuperative, slow-wave sleep."

According to the Foundation's 2003 NSF Sleep in America poll, 44 percent of older Americans experience one or more of the nighttime symptoms of insomnia at least a few nights per week or more. Hutchison said anyone with chronic insomnia should consult their doctor as anxiety, depression, pain, sleep apneas and other factors should be ruled out.

If problems with sleep are intermittent, though, you might want to give these sleep CDs a try. See if you can't bag the sandman, and if you wake up in the middle of the night, maybe you're just a dial away from getting him back? And you'll only be out about $20.