When sleep doesn’t come easily, some people turn to what they think is an easy solution – sleeping pills. But according to a Baylor College of Medicine sleep expert, sleep medications – whether prescription or over-the-counter – shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“All medications have side effects that need to be weighed whenever you take them,” cautioned Dr. Phil Alapat, assistant professor of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at BCM and medical director of the BCM Sleep Center.

Some of the most common prescription sleep medications are non-benzodiazepine hypnotics, like Ambien and Lunesta. These medications are not physically addictive and will not cause withdrawal symptoms when a person stops taking them. However, many people depend on them because they believe they cannot sleep without them, Alapat said. Read the rest of this entry

Sleep disorders come in many forms and are often misunderstood and misdiagnosed because the telltale signs — excessive snoring and daytime drowsiness — can result from a multitude of factors, including stress, obesity, work or travel schedule, anxiety, diet, medication or alcohol use or even a bad mattress or poor lighting. 

Any time we change our sleep patterns, like during the switch to or from Daylight Saving Time, our ability to rest properly is affected. But sleep deprivation and sleep disorders are year-round problems that must be properly diagnosed and addressed to preserve the health of the individual”, according to Dr. Arnold Pallay, medical director at Changebridge Medical Associates in Montville. Read the rest of this entry

Active Healthcare, an award-winning industry leader in sleep apnea treatment, hosted a meeting of the Durham A.W.A.K.E. (Alert, Well and Keeping Energetic) support group Thursday, October 28 to share meaningful education and resources for managing this dangerous condition.

Participants learned how to deal with challenges in CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy, an effective method for treating obstructive sleep apnea. Presenters Julie Shannon and Angela Martinez, sleep specialists with Active Healthcare, were on hand to showcase the latest equipment and perform screenings for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in addition to testing attendee CPAP equipment on-site. Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisordr/ [ Press Release ]/ BOSTON/ — Sleep HealthCenters has recently entered into a partnership with the Boston University Medical Group to develop and manage the Boston University Medical Group Sleep Center at 930 Commonwealth Ave in Brookline. Beginning this month, Sleep HealthCenters will perform diagnostic sleep studies and open a clinic offering sleep therapy services. Read the rest of this entry

While home sleep testing hasn’t been quite the boon many believed that it would be, provider Robert Koenigsberg says his sales are up 30% this year.

 ”If you look at companies like us, we are doing quite well because there is an audience of insurers and physicians (who believe in it) and there is a tremendous unmet need,” said Koenigsberg, president and CEO of SleepQuest.

SleepQuest, the 15-year-old company recently launched a patient-centric website, mysleepquest.com, that will put information and, when necessary, sleep studies in patients’ hands. Read the rest of this entry

A Cornell University research study concludes that medical costs related to obesity are costing U.S. taxpayers $168 billion annually. This is a figure double the amount of the U.S. health care budget previously estimated.

The study was conducted by Chad Meyerhoefer, assistant professor of economics, in collaboration with John Cawley, associate professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University. The data was taken over a five-year period from 14,000 adults.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity increases risk for coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, a variety of cancers, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems. Read the rest of this entry

A study out of Morristown memorial hospital in New Jersey found a group of golfers that improved their golf game by up to three strokes. Granted, these golfers suffered from sleep apnea and were users of the C-PAP sleep apnea headhear, a continuous positive airway pressure mask that helps them sleep better. (Read More…  )

SleepApneaDisorder/[ Press Release ]/ Valley Sleep Center announces the opening of their fifth sleep clinic in Chandler, Arizona.

The new clinic is located at 1120 South Dobson Road Building B, Suite 100, Chandler, AZ 85286 and is accepting new patients. Valley Sleep Center recently opened their fourth location in Scottsdale, this past October. They also have facilities located in Mesa, Phoenix, and Glendale, Arizona.

Valley Sleep Center is one of the largest independent sleep diagnostics centers in Arizona with the facilities to diagnose and treat a variety of sleep-related issues such as insomnia, sleep walking, snoring, and more. Read the rest of this entry

New Zealand Sleep Specialists are calling for an urgent review of sleep services following the announcement that up to ten per cent of the adult population has sleep apnea, and the majority are undiagnosed.

“New Zealand Sleep Services are poorly resourced to deal with the current burden of disease. Most obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) remains unrecognised, which is of huge concern given the known consequences of untreated OSA”, says Dr Michael Hlavac, Sleep Specialist at Christchurch Hospital and Chair of the New Zealand branch of the Australasian Sleep Association.

“Sleep apnea is associated with serious medical consequences, including heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes. Read the rest of this entry

As an important part of a designed research project the University of Granada researchers are going to analyse how sleep disorders like sleep apnea disorder affect risk perception in driving. To such purpose, three last-generation simulators provided by the Faculty of Psychology will be employed.

The purpose of the first study will be to analyse how a specific sleep disorder obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects risk perception in driving, as well as the efficacy of the therapies in development to treat it. Concretely, University of Granada researchers will study how different treatments for OSA improve risk perception in simulated driving. To such purpose, they employed the motorcycle simulator Honda Riding Trainer (HRT) using a multidimensional methodology (psychological, physical, behavioural and subjective measurements). Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/ [ Press Release ] / FRANKLIN, Mass. -A standard, pre-operative protocol for patients undergoing bariatric weight-loss surgery is a test for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is a potential cause of life-threatening perioperative complications. Bariatric patients across the U.S. are praising the ability to be tested from the comfort of their own bed using the well-established WatchPAT device for home sleep testing. Read the rest of this entry

The Brazos Valley sleep clinics are coming up to help patients find ways to help them sleep.

The College Station Sleep Center received national accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). The accreditation distinguishes College Station Sleep Center as meeting or exceeding national quality-of-care measures for sleep disorder treatment. According to a Med spokesperson, the College Station Sleep Center is the only accredited sleep center in the Brazos Valley.  Read the rest of this entry

By Jobee Knight

On October 24, 2010 the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) updated their web page that describes the many potential side effects of sleeping drugs.  On their site, they state that “Complex behaviors are a potential side effect of sedative-hypnotic products – a class of drugs used to help a person fall asleep and stay asleep.  These include making phone calls, sleep-eating, and getting into the car and driving while not fully awake. Most people do not remember these events later.”

Russell Katz, M.D., Director of the FDA’s Division of Neurology Products says, “Complex behaviors, such as sleep-driving, could be potentially dangerous to both the patients and to others.” Read the rest of this entry