Dispelling the Night-Time Frequent Urination
Inclined Bed Therapy
http://eregimens.com/therapies/MiscTherapies/Inclined%20bed%20therapy.html
Inclined bed therapy is where one's bed is raised 4 to 8
inches at the head by using bricks, wedges, or blocks to raise it. This can be useful in varied disorders including spinal cord injury, back pain, acid reflux or GERD, sinus and respiratory disorders, sleep apnea, poor circulation, low metabolism, edema in the legs, and others.
The easiest way to do this is to place wood blocks at the locations shown in the picture. Note that if there are legs in the middle of the bed, these must also be supported or the bed could be damaged. If the feet of the bed's legs are more than one
inch in diameter and rigid, it may be best if the blocks are made as wedges with the same angle the bed is tilted, which is approximately 5 degrees, although if soft wood is used, such as pine, the feet will indent the wood enough to make it stable.
The least expensive method to build riser blocks is to get a piece of 2x8 lumber (actually 1.5 x 7.5 "). Cut the board into 7.5" lengths to make squares 7.5 x 7.5 x 1.5. Glue or screw 4 together in a stack to get a 6" tall block, and 2 together to make the 3" riser for the middle if necessary. However, this is NOT very stable and can be dangerous so is not recommended. The only really stable way is to remove the legs of the bed and use risers the width of the bed going all the way across. If the legs cannot be removed, the best way is to build a right-triangular (looking from the side) platform which is 6" tall at the head of the bed tapering down to the foot of the bed and put this under the box springs.
From article Dispelling the Night-Time Frequent Urination by Andrew K Fletcher reprinted at Chris Gupta's New Media Explorer
During my research on the angle in which we sleep, I have worked with many people suffering from a whole range of illnesses, including multiple sclerosis. During my work with MS, it became clear that when horizontal bed rest was avoided in favour of inclined bed rest, with the head end fifteen
cm or six
inches higher at the head end, night time urine frequency was resolved in almost every single case, and there were many. Also oedema was resolved and this flies in the face of the current gravity/physiology relationship.
In order to determine what was happening with oedema and urine frequency, my wife and I conducted an experiment which involved measuring the specific gravity (density) of urine during different sleeping postures. We measured, horizontal bedrest, head down tilt bedrest and head up inclined bedrest. What we found was remarkable and can be tested by anyone using a simple hydrometer, the type used in home brew kits, to determine the density of urine.
Horizontal bedrest, produced a urine density lower than normal daily activity. Inclined bedrest produced urine density substantially higher that either horizontal bed rest head down tilt bedrest and normal daily activity and as we eat and drank the same during 3 weeks of measuring our urine the results were even more compelling.
But here is the crunch for this simple experiment. Head down tilt produced urine of near water density, no salts or minerals were being excreted in the urine! Which means that the salts end up in the bladder because of the effects of gravity on the salts and our posture in relation to the effects of gravity on said salts!
An additional effect of gravity on the body in the head up tilt position is the production of more heat during the night and this increases evaporation from the respiratory tract and skin, therefore reducing the amount of urine we produce and increasing the density of the urine produced.
Increased night time frequency of urination does not necessarily indicate prostate problems in males, it does how ever indicate that there might be something wrong with sleeping flat in both males and females.
Andrew K Fletcher