Royal Philips Electronics announced today a global partnership with the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM), as official sponsor of World Sleep Day 2011, being held across the globe on Friday, March 18. This partnership illustrates Philips’ expanding efforts to increase awareness of how sleep impacts people’s health and well-being all around the world, on a daily basis.

“Philips is honored to be working with the World Association of Sleep Medicine,” commented Dr. David White, Chief Medical Officer for Philips Home Healthcare Solutions and a Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Through the sponsorship of the World Sleep Day we aim to increase people’s understanding of the seriousness of sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) which, if not properly managed, can have a significant impact on a person’s health and well-being.” Read the rest of this entry

Singapore has been celebrating World Sleep Day, which is March 18, by deploying self-assessment kiosks throughout hospitals to help its citizens find out if they are at risk for obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA.

The first of such self assessment kiosk was installed on March 1.

obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)  sufferers stop breathing repeatedly during sleep, which happens when the upper airway is blocked by a large tongue or extra tissue in the throat.

Symptoms include loud snoring, choking during sleep, poor memory, feeling irritable and excessive daytime sleepiness.

An estimated 15 percent of the country’s population suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but the number of patients is expected to rise with increased awareness of this condition.

Source:TVOnline.Com

Snoring is not only a health problem but also an economic issue and  has come up in people’s attention across the globe recent days.Taking frequent walks can lead to reduced snoring, according to Douglas Bradley, director of the Toronto Research Institute’s Sleep Research Laboratory. Research conducted by Bradley and his staff has tied excessive sitting to a condition called sleep apnea. This causes a constricted throat, stopped breathing, and interrupted sleep.

Prolonged sittings are equally dangerous as such a habit also causes increased snoring. Fluid collects in the legs and eventually moves to the neck when a person lies down in bed at night. As soon as the the muscles come to relax, a person’s airway can shut fairly tight.

Researchers have two solutions to this problem – fitting sleep apnea sufferers with compression stockings and getting out of a chair every hour to take a short walk.

At the same time the researchers in Denmark have established that people who are affected by chronic snoring tend to have lower earnings compared to people with normal sleep habits.

People with snoring conditions compell people to shell out more money for healthcare, say researchers. At the same time, they often don’t have the income to pay for all of it.

Another Danish study revealed that those with sleep disorders had an unemployment rate 30 percent higher than those without a disorder. Danish researchers also found that those with snoring problems who are working had significantly lower salaries than workers without sleep disorders.This may be related to drowsiness on the job that translates into lower productivity.

Most common sleep problems can be successfully treated, and there are a variety of treatment options.“I think most people agree that sleep is important to overall health, but they fail to tell their doctors when they’re having problems — this is probably due to a variety of reasons, but a common one includes uncertainty about the treatments,” says Dennis Auckley, M.D., director of the MetroHealth Center for Sleep Medicine.

Dr. Auckley leads a team of six Valerie Ross, CNP, and Jan Steinel RRT, CNP, are also specially trained members of the team that provides clinical diagnosis and treatment of the full spectrum of sleep disorders in adults and children at three specially equipped Sleep Center facilities: at MetroHealth’s main campus just south of downtown Cleveland, in Independence, and — new this year — in Westlake. Patients are also seen at The Senior Health & Wellness Center in Cleveland and at the MetroHealth Strongsville Community Health Center.

According to Dr. Auckley, insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome and parasomnias, such as sleep walking and night terrors, are the main types of sleep disorders diagnosed and treated at the Center for Sleep Medicine. Insomnia is the most common, with 25% of Americans experiencing it intermittently and 10% chronically. It is especially common in women and the elderly, and the causes vary — from environmental conditions to poor sleep habits to medical or psychological conditions and sometimes even medications. Read the rest of this entry

Recent studies have linked sleep loss and sleep disorders to health problems such as depression, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. The latest findings in sleep research will be presented and discussed by more than 5,000 scientists and sleep specialists when the SLEEP 2011 25th Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC convenes at the Minneapolis Convention Center from June 13 to 15.

More than 1,000 research abstracts will be presented at SLEEP 2011. The scientific program also includes symposia, clinical workshops and discussion groups on topics ranging from neuroscience and genetics to dreams, sleep deprivation and aging. Clinical sleep specialists will discuss current practices in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea.

“Sleep has an impact on virtually every aspect of our daily lives, including our daytime alertness, job performance, mental wellness, physical health and longevity,” said Dr. H. Craig Heller, chair of the APSS program committee. “The information presented during SLEEP 2011 will help the medical community promote healthy sleep habits and provide appropriate medical care for the 50 million to 70 million people in the U.S. who suffer from a chronic sleep disorder.”

Hospitals are finding an increasing market for sleep disorders, particularly sleep apnea linked to pulmonary conditions. As the nation gains weight and gets older, sleep disorders are becoming more frequent. Of 20 million to 40 million Americans who suffer from chronic sleep disorders, an overwhelming percentage—as much as 80%—have obstructive sleep apnea linked to high blood pressure and heart disease.

Hospitals are delivering multifaceted care in both inpatient and outpatient settings using both increased screening procedures and educational programs. In addition, hospitals anticipate many more patients; as many as 10 million people could have obstructive sleep apnea and not be aware of it, according to the American Association for Respiratory Care.

While CMS has reduced reimbursements for general sleep study programs, it has opened the door for funding for diagnosis of sleep apnea, particularly with home testing. That has prompted sleep experts to coordinate patient care with lab testing.

Obstructive sleep apnea can hasten death, as well as cause disease and disrupt normal life, but it responds dramatically to treatment.

The hospital carries out a multidisciplinary approach in its pulmonary treatment program that includes care for sleep apnea at its sleep center, an outpatient sleep clinic, as well as a sleep studies program. Stanton Nelson, chairman and CEO of Graymark Healthcare, foresees significant financial growth in the area of sleep apnea in the years ahead. [ Read Complete Post By Joe Cantlupe, for HealthLeaders Media ...  ]

Sleep is a basic human need — a crucial component of survival, much like breathing, eating a healthy diet or getting enough exercise. World Sleep Day is designed to raise awareness of sleep as a human privilege that is often compromised by the habits of modern life.A good night’s sleep is vital for the health and well-being of people of all ages. This is the message the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) will be promoting during the fourth-annual World Sleep Day on Friday, March 18, 2011. Organized by the World Sleep Day Committee (co-chaired by Antonio Culebras and Liboro Parrino), this worldwide event is a platform for medical professionals to deliver the message of the importance of healthy sleep to the public. Read the rest of this entry

A new study from the University of Colorado at Boulder has found that people who take one of the world’s most commonly prescribed sleep medicines are significantly more at risk for nighttime falls, potential injury, and memory impairment. The study, which involved twenty-five healthy adults, showed 58 percent of the older adults and 27 percent of the young adults who took a hypnotic, sleep-inducing drug called zolpidem showed a significant loss of balance and impaired thinking-ability when awakened two hours after sleep.
 
Zolpidem is a generic drug that is marketed under a number of different brand names, including Ambien, Zolpimist, Edluar, Hypogen, Somidem and Ivedal.  “These findings are important because falls are the leading cause of injury in older adults, and 30 percent of adults sixty-five and older who fall, require hospitalization each year,” said Associate Professor Kenneth Wright, lead study author. Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/[ Press Release ]/ KEY BISCAYNE, FL/- The Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Education is proud to announce its introductory course in Dental Sleep Medicine. With the availability of the Pankey condominiums for lodging, participants will have the opportunity to wear a home sleep monitor, as well as adjust and wear their own oral appliance while at the course. The first session will be held July 10-14, 2011.

The topics to be explored include:

• An overview of normal human sleep, Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) and its systemic consequences
• The medical model for diagnosis and treatment of SDB, including details of medical diagnostic (polysomnography) and treatment (CPAP) modalities
• Dental screening for SDB, including questionnaires and dental, head and neck examination
• A literature-based view of the design, effectiveness, and morbidities of oral appliance therapy Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/ [ Press Release ] / Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) March 15, 2011/University Services, a Philadelphia-based multi-specialty medical services company, is excited to introduce pm-Assist? Sleep Scoring & Interpretation Service. pm-Assist? allows employers or medical professionals using home sleep testing devices to upload raw data that is scored by Registered Polysomnographic Technicians (RPSGT), interpreted by Board Certified Sleep Physicians, and then receive a diagnostic report in as little as 24 hours compared to a month or more for lab-based sleep testing.

The pm-Assist? program is unique due to the fact that each RPSGT and Board Certified Sleep Physician is an employee of University Services, not a network of unaffiliated physicians or technicians. Our Board Certified Sleep Physicians medically licensed in all 50 states provide a consistent level of service nationwide. Diagnostic reports are issued with treatment recommendations based on the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) guidelines. These qualifications provide medical professionals the highest standard in sleep care night after night. Read the rest of this entry

Myths or the “old wives tales” about sleep are sure not new or you too but the incorrect information can be serious and even dangerous. The National Sleep Foundation has compiled a list of ten most common myths about sleep, and the facts that dispel them.

1. Snoring is a common problem, especially among men, but it isn’t harmful.

Although snoring may be harmless for most people, it can be a symptom of a life threatening sleep disorder called sleep apnea, especially if it is accompanied by severe daytime sleepiness. Sleep apnea is characterized by pauses in breathing that prevent air from flowing into or out of a sleeping person’s airways. People with sleep apnea awaken frequently during the night gasping for breath. The breathing pauses reduce blood oxygen levels, can strain the heart and cardiovascular system, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Snoring on a frequent or regular basis has been directly associated with hypertension. Obesity and a large neck can contribute to sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be treated; men and women who snore loudly, especially if pauses in the snoring are noted, should consult a physician.

2. You can “cheat” on the amount of sleep you get.

Sleep experts say most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night for optimum performance, health and safety. When we don’t get adequate sleep, we accumulate a sleep debt that can be difficult to “pay back” if it becomes too big. The resulting sleep deprivation has been linked to health problems such as obesity and high blood pressure, negative mood and behavior, decreased productivity, and safety issues in the home, on the job, and on the road. Read the rest of this entry