Sleep Disorder News and Research

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A sleep disorder (somnipathy) is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning. A test commonly ordered for some sleep disorders is the polysomnogram.

Meditation-relaxation technique can help treat sleep paralysis

Sleep paralysis - a condition thought to explain a number of mysterious experiences including alleged cases of alien abduction and demonic night-time visits - could be treated using a technique of meditation-relaxation, suggests a pilot study published today.

12 Aug 2020

New Android application helps identify signs of sleep apnea at home

Sleep apnea is a very common sleep disorder characterised by breathing pauses and periodic snoring. According to some studies, as much as ten percent of the population suffer from it, but up to nine out of ten cases remain undiagnosed because symptoms are sometimes mild and there are a lack of resources in diagnostics.

2 Jul 2020

New study investigates the impact of COVID-19 on sleep

An international group of researchers led by Professor Colin Espie from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford is investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sleep and daily rhythms in adults.

15 Jun 2020

How India's lockdown has affected mental health

India’s public landscape has transformed dramatically over the last couple of months, with the most prolonged lockdown that the present generation can remember. Declared on March 24, 2020, the lockdown ensured that hundreds of millions of people were effectively confined to home, except when they ventured out, armed with a self-attested affidavit, to stock up on essentials.

27 May 2020

Sleep may help animals adapt to challenging new situations

Flies that cannot take to the air respond by sleeping more as they learn to adapt to their flightlessness, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

8 May 2020

Coping with adult nightmares

Bad dreams or nightmares affect not only children but adults, too. Haunting nightmares can affect a person’s sleep quality and duration, but is it possible to turn off a nightmare while it is happening?

17 Feb 2020

Study explains how certain mutations can shorten biological clock timing

A new study of molecular interactions central to the functioning of biological clocks explains how certain mutations can shorten clock timing, making some people extreme "morning larks" because their internal clocks operate on a 20-hour cycle instead of being synchronized with the 24-hour cycle of day and night.

13 Feb 2020

Greater medical care needed for older adults with untreated sleep apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common and costly medical condition leading to a wide range of health risks such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, depression, diabetes and even premature death.

16 Jan 2020

New Year's resolutions to improve the quality and quantity of sleep

New Year's Day is the sleepiest day of the year according to American Academy of Sleep Medicine survey results of 2,003 U.S. adults.

12 Dec 2019

New recommendations aim to improve outcomes of Parkinson's disease patients

Since the discovery that the gut microbiome may play a role in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD), this fresh scientific approach has produced varying results. In this review published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease scientists compare results of current research and provide recommendations to increase the comparability and utility of these studies with a view towards improving patient outcomes.

11 Nov 2019

Survey: 41% of adults will fall back to sleep when daylight saving time ends

What will you do with an extra hour when daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3? Forty-one percent of adults indicated that they will fall back to sleep, according to a survey conducted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

17 Oct 2019

Sleep apnea is a risk factor for developing diabetic macular edema, study shows

New research from Taiwan shows that severe sleep apnea is a risk factor for developing diabetic macular edema, a complication of diabetes that can cause vision loss or blindness. Diabetic macular edema was also more difficult to treat in patients with severe sleep apnea.

14 Oct 2019

Military veterans with PTSD suffer from rare sleep disorder

Military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or concussion suffer from a thrashing form of sleep behavior at a rate that is far higher than the general population, according to a new study by researchers at the VA Portland Health Care System and Oregon Health & Science University.

11 Oct 2019

Parkinson's disease also connected with the immune system, confirms new study

The behaviour of immune cells in the blood is so different in patients with Parkinson's disease that it advocates for a new type of supplementary medicine, which can regulate the immune system and thus inhibit the deterioration of the brain.

3 Oct 2019

Behavioral problems during childhood can lead to adult insomnia

Parents should help their children with better sleep patterns, along with any problem behavioral issues, because this can lead to severe insomnia in middle age, a groundbreaking new study shows.

8 Sep 2019

UA receives $1.4 million grant for a peer-support program to help sleep apnea patients

University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson Professor Sairam Parthasarathy, MD, has been awarded nearly $1.4 million for a peer-support program for sleep apnea patients.

3 Sep 2019

Study examines how evening use of alcohol, caffeine and nicotine affects sleep outcomes

Between 50 to 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder. Sleepless nights are associated with a number of adverse health outcomes including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and certain cancers. Evening use of alcohol, caffeine and nicotine are believed to sabotage sleep.

6 Aug 2019