Sleep is sleep, isn’t it?

But have you ever thought about whether your child is getting healthy sleep?

The sleep quality among infants and children generally vary just as the quality of their diets do.

Healthy sleep is as important as good nutrition and exercise for normal growth and development. Sleep also impacts daytime mood and functioning. If your child has poor grades or other difficulties in school, it’s possible that could be traced back to lack of sleep. Read the rest of this entry

The National Sleep Foundation is pleased to announce its partnership with LARK, creator of the award-winning sleep monitor, silent alarm clock, and personal sleep coach, to educate consumers on the importance of sleep and the best practices for sleep health.

“We’re excited by the potential of the convergence of technology and interest in sleep,” says David Cloud, CEO of the National Sleep Foundation. “LARK is at the cutting edge of consumer sleep devices and by working together, the National Sleep Foundation and LARK can help everyone understand how to make the most of their time in bed.”

LARK worked with top sleep experts to design an actigraph wristband that detects wearers’ unique sleep patterns and wirelessly uploads them to their iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Users get an immediate picture of how they’ve slept and analysis shows what “Sleep Type” they are and the easiest ways for them personally to improve. LARK offers a premium subscription, LARK Pro, which actively coaches people towards improving their sleep. The LARK wristband also features a silent alarm that wakes the wearer gently by mild vibrations. Read the rest of this entry

For years, you’ve been through the loss of an hour in the spring and the gain of an hour in the fall as part of daylight saving time. With the upcoming time change slated for 2 a.m. Sunday, March 11, adults may be used to it, but children, including teenagers, may not be.

According to a sleep specialist, “the spring’s loss of an hour is usually the one that causes the most sleeping havoc”.

However, parents can lessen the effects of potential sleep deprivation with a few simple steps, says Dr. Philip Alapat, medical director, Sleep Disorders Center, Harris County Hospital District, and assistant professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine.

“While some adults are significantly affected by the time changes, children tend to have the most difficult time,” he says. Read the rest of this entry

Siesta Medical, Inc., a developer of minimally invasive surgical solutions for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), announced the U.S. launch of its Encore™ Tongue Suspension System for the treatment of OSA. The Encore™ System simplifies and improves the control of tongue suspension, a procedure shown to be an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Dr. Jason van Tassel at Washington Hospital in Fremont, CA performed one of the first patient implants.

“Through a small incision, the Encore System allowed me to navigate the tongue base and easily place suspension loops. Controlling the final tension and advancement of the tongue base was easy and much simpler than with previous tongue suspension devices. This was a quick and minimally invasive surgery and is a potentially attractive surgical option for OSA patients with tongue base obstructions” said Dr. van Tassel. Read the rest of this entry

St. Luke’s Cornwall Center for Sleep Medicine has launched a new, free, support group, for patients with sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.

The first quarterly meeting for the A.W.A.K.E. (Alert, Well And Keeping Energetic) support group will be held Wednesday, March 21 from 6:15 – 8:15 p.m. at the 2nd Floor Conference Room at the Cornwall campus located on 19 Laurel Avenue in Cornwall. Refreshments will be served.

“We’re excited to launch the Mid-Hudson Valley chapter of this new support group through our Sleep Medicine program,” said Dr. Anita Bhola, Medical Director, St. Luke’s Cornwall Center for Sleep Medicine. Patients will be put in touch with doctors, manufacturing reps, DME and other experts in the field to have their questions answered in an informal patient friendly setting.

St. Luke’s Cornwall Center for Sleep Medicine is committed to enhancing quality of life for those experiencing disruptive sleep. Using advanced diagnostics and the latest research in the field highly qualified staff evaluates patient’s sleep patterns and devise a custom treatment plan to improve their ability to sleep.

The mattress store Sleepy’s used information gathered in the CDC’s National Health Survey to figure out which workers get the most sleep each day, and which make do with the least.

The lists are based on interviews with 27,157 adults as part of the annual National Health Interview Survey, conducted by a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to Sleepy’s , its rankings are based on two variables: 1) average hours of sleep that respondents said they got in a 24-hour period, and 2) respondents’ occupations, as they would be classified by the Department of Labor.

The jobs with the most sleep-deprived work forces are below, starting with the most sleep-deprived at the top: Read the rest of this entry

A recently concluded research study established that the children who experience sleep-disordered breathing are significantly more probably exhibiting maladaptive behaviors subsequent to surgery compared to those children who do not have any respiratory problem.

Researchers from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor were intrigued by the postoperative behavioral problems—like fussiness, disobedience and introversion, and daytime sleepiness.

“All of us have taken care of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)patients at one time or another,” said Robert E. Christensen, MD, clinical lecturer in anesthesiology at the institution. Read the rest of this entry

JaMarcus Russell earned a reputation as one of the worst disappointments in draft history and argued that sleep apnea was to blame for much of the behavior that earned him widespread criticism and put an end to his NFL career at the tender age of 26.

JaMarcus Russell’s diagnosis and subsequent discussion of sleep apnea may not be enough to restore his much-maligned performance or defunct career; but at a time when nearly 12% of the American public suffers from this serious and potentially life-threatening condition, it may help raise popular awareness of sleep apnea – and encourage patients to thoroughly research their treatment options to find solutions that are both effective and sustainable for the long haul. Read the rest of this entry

Sleep is extremely important for the body. It plays an important role on the body weight and metabolism, mood, cardiovascular health, and disease .

The frightening side effects of sleep deprivation are only compounded by the fact that millions of the Americans are sleep deprived. According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), 40 million Americans suffer from some type of sleeping disorder, with 60% of adults saying that they do have sleep problems a few nights a week, if not more.

A recently concluded research study findings published in the journal Immunity  will sure have people taking their sleep a whole lot more seriously than they have before. Read the rest of this entry

NovaSom, Inc., the leader in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) home testing and cost-containment solutions, has announced UnitedHealthcare plan  participants now have access to NovaSom home sleep testing services for sleep apnea diagnosis. Home sleep testing is a clinically equivalent alternative to in-facility sleep testing that can be performed from the comfort and privacy of a patient’s home, at a fraction of the cost.

NovaSom will utilize its field-based provider relations team to educate physicians on appropriate screening parameters that will help identify clinically appropriate patients for home sleep testing. NovaSom will also make available a customized, provider-friendly workflow process aligned with prior authorization requirements to assure cost-effective diagnosis and initiation of treatment through its proprietary       cloud-based MediTrack^®System.    Read the rest of this entry

UBM Medica’s Psychiatric Times today announced special coverage of sleep disorders that occur in patients with mental illness.

Chronic sleep disturbances can lead to or exacerbate mental illness. The information offered on Psychiatric Times is written by leading psychiatrists for mental health practitioners who want to improve their patients’ “sleep hygiene” and alleviate symptoms of mental illness.

Sleep disorder highlights on Psychiatric Times include:

1. “Sleep Hygiene: Tips on Getting a Restful Night’s Sleep,” offers practitioners simple tips to give their patients who are having difficulty sleeping
2. “Treatment of Insomnia in Anxiety Disorders,” discusses the prevalence of comorbid insomnia in anxiety disorders and how it can be treated
3. “Psychosomatic Symptoms in Children with Chronic Mental Illness,” addresses the needs of the approximately 20 percent of children with chronic medical conditions who also have behavioral and emotional symptoms  Read the rest of this entry

A recently concluded research revealed that the amount and quality of sleep directly affects your memory as you get older.

Yo-El Ju, MD, from Washington University School of Medicine and his colleague researchers tested the sleep patterns of 100 dementia-free people between the ages of 45 and 80, half of whom had a family history of Alzheimer’s disease. A device was used to measure sleep for two weeks, and the participants also kept sleep diaries and filled out questionnaires.

The average time a person spent in bed during the study was about eight hours, but the average sleep time was 6.5 hours due to short periods of wakefulness during the night. Read the rest of this entry

A Currently concluded research study based on the large health insurance database revealed that people who’d suffered sudden deafness were more probable to have a previous diagnosis of sleep apnea than a comparison group without hearing loss.

Taiwanese health insurance data analysis revealed that the absolute difference is actually small: 1.7 percent of those with hearing loss had sleep apnea in comparison to 1.2 percent without hearing trouble.

The health records of nearly one million Taiwanese evaluated by Dr. Jau-Jiuan Sheu, of Taipei Medical University Hospital. His team of researchers found that almost 3,200 had been diagnosed with sudden deafness between 2000 and 2008. Comparison was made with other five people of same age and sex without hearing loss. Out of those 19,000 people in total, 240 had been diagnosed with sleep apnea before the episode of sudden deafness occurred. Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/ DEARBORN, MI/ January 28, 2012 /PressRelease/ — Patients suffering from sleep apnea and snoring can now seek treatment from Dr. Bruce Luria, Dearborn dentist. Dr. Bruce Luria is currently a member of the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine and is pleased to share his expertise with other members of Luria & Birnholtz Family Dentistry and his patients to improve their quality of life.

The American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM) is dedicated to the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders through use of oral appliance therapy. As part of the AADSM’s stated mission, Dr. Bruce Luria, Dearborn, MI dentist, works with his patients to create a positive public awareness of sleep disorders such as snoring and obstructive sleep apnea in Dearborn.  Read the rest of this entry

Nemours/Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children (AIDHC) and Delaware Sleep Disorder Centers are pleased to announce a collaboration to provide sleep studies for children ages six to 18.

Adequate, restorative sleep is essential to maintaining good health. If a child has difficulty sleeping, a sleep test and subsequent evaluation can help identify the problem. Under this collaboration, tests are done at the Smyrna, Delaware Sleep Disorder Center in a child friendly atmosphere with state-of-the-art equipment for a full range of sleep disorders. Following the testing, Nemours sleep specialists will interpret all studies and are available for consultations. Read the rest of this entry