Sleep News and Research

Latest Sleep News and Research

Analysis explores the importance of CNS-related conditions and their impact on epilepsy management

Depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), sleep disorder and migraine: These are among the comorbidities reported to occur more often in people who said they had been diagnosed with epilepsy versus those without an epilepsy diagnosis, according to a survey of approximately 173,000 households across the U.S.

4 Dec 2009

FDA approves once-daily SEROQUEL XR Extended Release Tablets

AstraZeneca today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved once-daily SEROQUEL XR® (quetiapine fumarate) Extended Release Tablets as adjunctive (add-on) treatment to antidepressants in adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

4 Dec 2009

Weight loss - an effective treatment for sleep apnoea in obese men

For obese men, a dramatic weight loss can be an effective way to improve moderate to severe sleep apnoea, scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet report. Those with severe sleep apnoea when the study began benefited most from weight loss.

4 Dec 2009

Guidepoint Global launches Sleep Apnea Tracker

Guidepoint Global, LLC, a leading primary research firm, today announced the launch of their Sleep Apnea Tracker, a monthly longitudinal data release that monitors and projects trends and market share in the worldwide Sleep Apnea market.

4 Dec 2009

The Cancer Center at Harrington receives approval to treat its first patients

The Cancer Center at Harrington has received approval to treat its first patients, Harrington Hospital announced today.

4 Dec 2009

Low energy diet improves obstructive sleep apnoea in obese men

Weight loss reduces obstructive sleep apnoea in obese men, with the greatest effect seen in patients with severe disease, according to new research published on bmj.com today.

4 Dec 2009

Malaria campaign kicks off, will coincide with 2010 World Cup Soccer

The United Against Malaria (UAM) campaign, which will work in collaboration with the 2010 Soccer World Cup, was launched Wednesday in Johannesburg, South Africa, SAPA/IOL reports (12/2).

4 Dec 2009

CBO report shows hundreds of millions spent on direct marketing of drugs to consumers

The Congressional Budget Office released an "interesting report" on on how "pharmaceutical companies market prescription drugs, a subject that has received some scrutiny during the debate on ways to control health care spending," The New York Times reports.

3 Dec 2009

One in six Americans expect to lose sleep due to holiday-induced stress

The kids may be sleeping soundly this season with “visions of sugar plums in their heads,” but almost half of the nation’s moms and dads (44%) say they are worried about being able to afford the holidays this year, with one in six Americans (17%) expecting to lose sleep due to holiday-induced stress.

3 Dec 2009

Body needs fasting periods to stay healthy

A body that is provided with food too often gets caught up in the maelstrom of a lack of exercise, obesity and ultimately diabetes. The trigger is a molecular switch that is controlled by insulin, a new study by scientists from ETH Zurich has revealed.

3 Dec 2009

Short, unpleasant, dreamlike mental activity occurs during sleepwalking, reveals study

A study in the Dec.1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that short, unpleasant, dreamlike mental activity occurs during sleepwalking and sleep terrors episodes, suggesting that people with these sleep disorders may be acting out dreamlike thoughts.

3 Dec 2009

Lung disease linked to the use of contaminated well water in a CPAP machine

Many people rely on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines as a safe and effective treatment for sleep apnea. But a new case report describes a rare complication—a lingering inflammatory disease of the lungs, apparently related to the use of contaminated well water in a CPAP machine. The report appears in the December Southern Medical Journal, official journal of the Southern Medical Association.

3 Dec 2009

NHLBI approves award of 13 contracts to improve asthma control

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health has approved the award of 13 contracts to local organizations across the country to develop, implement, and test science-based approaches to improve asthma control using evidence-based national guidelines for diagnosing and managing asthma.

3 Dec 2009

Repeated use of ecstasy drug increases the risk of developing sleep apnea

Repeated use of the drug popularly known as "ecstasy" significantly raises the risk of developing sleep apnea in otherwise healthy young adults with no other known risk factors for the sleep disturbance, a new study by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests.

2 Dec 2009

Ecotones Duet Sleep Sound Machine recommended as part of a healthy sleep plan

Last month on a prominent nationally syndicated radio show, Dr. Rafael Pelayo, Associate Professor at the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine, recommended the Ecotones Duet Sleep Sound Machine as part of a healthy sleep plan for people trying to achieve a better night's sleep with minimal use of drugs.

2 Dec 2009

ImThera Medical implants its aura6000 neurostimulation device in two OSA patients

ImThera Medical, Inc. today announced that two patients have been surgically implanted with ImThera’s aura6000™ neurostimulation device for treating tongue-based Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Patients are being enrolled in ImThera’s pilot clinical investigation in Belgium with the first results expected to be published in the first half of 2010.

2 Dec 2009

J&JPRD submits an NDA for tapentadol ER tablets

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. announced today that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for tapentadol extended release (ER) tablets, an investigational oral analgesic for the management of moderate to severe chronic pain in patients 18 years of age or older.

2 Dec 2009

Research study on the function of orexin neurons in brain

Japanese research group led by Professor Yasuhiko Minokoshi and Dr. Tetsuya Shiuchi, scientists at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, NIPS, Japan, found that meals stimulated with sweet taste and motivated with its anticipation regularly activates "orexin" in the brain and it stimulates muscle glucose metabolism via the sympathetic nervous system, thereby reducing blood glucose level in mice.

2 Dec 2009

Study examines role of low-oxygen exposure in heart failure patients

Distance runners who live at high altitudes with low oxygen levels are known to improve their performance during races in areas that are at sea level. Can heart failure patients, who suffer from fatigue, improve their exercise performance by staying in a tent-like, high-altitude simulator?

1 Dec 2009

Changes in children's sleep patterns are associated with onset of puberty, says study

A study in the Dec.1 issue of the journal Sleep suggests that changes in children's sleep patterns that typically occur between the ages of 11 and 12 years are evident before the physical changes associated with the onset of puberty.

1 Dec 2009