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[00:00.69] Some people may not be able to buy them. They can be costly.

[00:07.06] A quality weighted blankets can cost between $50 to over $300.

[00:15.56] This depends on the size, weight and material.

[00:21.93] Some people use them for other reasons than sleep.

[00:26.98] Rhonda James gets under her blanket to relax as she watches television or drinks a glass of wine.

[00:36.28] Lucy Taylor, a writer from Wales, also uses a weighted blanket. Her anxiety increases during the winter.

[00:47.44] So, she uses her blanket during cold months to fall asleep.

[00:53.55] She says when her body is relaxed, her mind relaxes too.

[01:00.19] There is little scientific research on whether weighted blankets help with sleep, anxiety, or other health issues.

[01:11.61] The studies that exist involve small groups of people.

[01:16.12] And most of the study subjects are people with conditions including sleep problems, long-term pain, and mental and developmental disorders.

[01:28.87] A study on 120 people with insomnia, an inability to get enough sleep, found that the weighted blankets helped them sleep better compared to a light blanket.

[01:43.75] Another study considered 67 children with the developmental and brain disorder autism.

[01:53.04] That research found that weighted blankets did not affect the children’s sleep at all.

[02:00.48] However, it also found that the study subjects liked the weighted blankets more than non-weighted blankets.

[02:10.58] A third study on 94 adults with chronic pain found that a heavier weighted blanket did not affect sleep.

[02:20.67] But it was better at reducing pain than a lighter blanket.

[02:26.78] So, there is not much scientific evidence to support health improvement claims about weighted blankets.

[02:35.54] However, in most cases they also cannot hurt, sleep experts say.

[02:41.39] Dr. Daniel Barone is a sleep medicine expert at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.

[02:50.15] He suggests the use of weighted blankets to his patients after they try other traditional treatments and medicines.

[03:00.25] “If it doesn’t hurt and it may help, it’s worth a shot,” he said.