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.

Babies should not be asleep in the same bed that their parents are sleeping in

Revised American Academy of Pediatrics' guidelines on preventing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) recommend putting babies to sleep in their own cribs instead of in their parents' beds.

10 Oct 2005

The biomedical and sociological effects of sleep restriction

In spring 2005 a large European research and training network was established to investigate the causes and implications of poor sleep from the medical as well as from the social point of view.

3 Oct 2005

Long hours equal to alcohol in impairing young doctors

Fatigued medical residents' performance on attention tests and on a driving simulator is comparable - or worse - than their performance after drinking three to four cocktails, according to research from Brown Medical School and University of Michigan.

6 Sep 2005

Treating nighttime heartburn improves sleep and boosts quality of life

The first major multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial addressing therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) related sleep disorders is published in the September issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

1 Sep 2005

Inexpensive method to assess the stability and quality of sleep

Using information hidden in the beat-to-beat changes of the heart's electrical signals, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have developed an inexpensive method to assess the stability and quality of sleep, which could be used to help understand the mechanisms of sleep control and diagnose sleep disorders, as well as to test the efficacy of sleep aids and other medications.

29 Aug 2005

Chronic use of nitroglycerin for chest pain could lead to mitochondrial damage

Definitive evidence to explain how the drug nitroglycerin relieves chest pain has resulted from a new study by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators at Duke University Medical Center. Nitroglycerin relaxes blood vessels to boost blood flow, yet the mechanism by which the drug works has remained a matter of scientific controversy.

16 Aug 2005

Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women

Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women, a condition that can, ultimately, lead to a decrease in fitness level and the development of metabolic disorders.

12 Jul 2005

Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women

A new study published in the July issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), showed that severely obese men were more carbohydrate intolerant and had less physical endurance than severely obese women, leading researchers to believe that gender plays a strong role in physical fitness and a person's ability to metabolize carbohydrates.

11 Jul 2005

Young children who snore more likely to be hyperactive later on

A new study has found that young children who snore could possibly be at greater risk of becoming hyperactive later, than those who sleep quietly.

4 Jul 2005

Children who snore are far more likely to suffer hyperactivity disorders

Several years ago, University of Michigan researchers published some of the strongest evidence yet that children who snore when they sleep are far more likely to have attention and hyperactivity problems than their non-snoring peers.

4 Jul 2005

Sleep helps memory

A good night's sleep triggers changes in the brain that help to improve memory, according to a new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

28 Jun 2005

Ramelteon may help chronic insomniacs

Ramelteon, a novel investigational compound under review with the FDA for the treatment of insomnia, reduced the time it took to fall asleep and increased total sleep time in adults with chronic insomnia, according to results from a Phase 3 study presented this week at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

20 Jun 2005

Chronic insomnia medicines have not yet been rigorously evaluated for long-term use

Many of the medications widely used to manage chronic insomnia have not yet been rigorously evaluated for long-term use, according to an independent scientific panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health.

16 Jun 2005

Neurocrine Biosciences issued new U.S. patent

Neurocrine Biosciences announced today the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 6,903,106 covering a novel polymorphic form (different crystal structure) of its proprietary compound indiplon for the treatment of insomnia.

16 Jun 2005

Short-term use of CPAP therapy may protect against cardiovascular disease

A common sleep therapy used to treat patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may actually have a protective effect against death related to cardiovascular disease.

13 Jun 2005

Excessive sleepiness in adolescents may indicate more than just lack of sleep

A new technical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH) says that although sleepiness is rather common in this age group, pediatricians should pay special attention to patients who exhibit evidence of excessive sleepiness because it could indicate an underlying medical or mental health condition.

9 Jun 2005

Adolescents who are lethargic, cranky and forgetful may have chronic sleep deprivation

Adolescents who are lethargic, cranky and forgetful may have a common ailment: chronic sleep deprivation. But some tired teens may actually have a medical condition such as depression, insomnia, narcolepsy or sleep apnea, warns a new report in Pediatrics.

6 Jun 2005

New understanding of jet lag

A new study demonstrates that the brain’s central timekeeper - the biological clock that regulates waking and sleeping cycles - has two parts that fall out of synchrony during light schedule shifts of six hours, the time it takes to fly across the Atlantic.

3 Jun 2005

Nearly one out of two visits to a doctor's office for help with a sleep disorder result in the prescription of potentially addictive medications

The drugs, called benzodiazepines, are often a cheaper alternative to some newer types of medicines that don't have the same potentially addictive side effects, said Rajesh Balkrishnan, the study's lead author and the Merrell Dow professor of pharmacy at Ohio State University.

1 Jun 2005

Breathing disorders during sleep are common among asthmatics

When asthmatics are awake, they can turn to their inhalers to open their airways. But when they sleep, many of them continue to struggle with breathing - and an understanding of their sleep-related problems may help doctors better diagnose and treat their patients' asthma, according to new University of Michigan Health System research.

26 May 2005