This week's sleep news, Jan 7 - 14

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 SPECIAL  || Recalls, special announcements, breaking news, events

Jack & Julie Narcolepsy Scholarship application process now open. Project Sleep’s Jack & Julie Narcolepsy Scholarship is a national effort to support students with narcolepsy and to raise awareness about narcolepsy in high school and college. From their website: "In 2016, Project Sleep will award 5 scholarships of $1,000 each to high school seniors who will attend a 4-year university and who exemplify courage and hope while living with narcolepsy. Applications are due April 1, 2016." Apply here 

Of interest to Westport CT seniors: On Thurs Jan 21 at 1:15pm, Dr. Stasia Wieber presents “Normal Adult Sleep and 5 Common Sleep Disorders” at the Westport Center for Senior Activities at 21 Imperial Avenue. Topics to cover include the importance of sleep, snoring, sleep apnea, insomnia and sleep deprivation. This free program, sponsored by Yale New Haven Health, requires pre-registration. More info: 203-341-5099 or visit the senior center website. 

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 TOP TEN  || Sleep news picks this week — newest to oldest

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
1. JAN 14 || SLEEP REVIEW MAGAZINE
How one sleep center flags high-risk apnea patients, raises its volume, and lowers hospital readmissions
Business & Workplace
From the curator: These new models for healthcare are encouraging. 

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
2. JAN 13 || THE VERGE
Google's self-driving cars would've hit something 13 times if not for humans: New report shows when and why test drivers have to take the wheel
Technology
From the curator: This technology is not ready for primetime, methinks.

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 

3. JAN 12 || BUZZ
Students and modafinil
Drugs
From the curator: Madness. We have to stop thinking a drug will fix human imperfection. 

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
4. JAN 12 || NETDOCTOR
How to overcome menopause-related sleeplessness
Women
From the curator: More research like this, please. 

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
5. JAN 11 || STANFORD CENTER FOR SLEEP SCIENCES AND MEDICINE
Medicare Regulations Are Driving a Wedge Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients and Their Providers
Public Health & Safety
From the curator: Bean counters are not doctors. When will insurance step out of the way of legitimate healthcare?

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
6. JAN 9 || THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Lark-Owl Scale: When Couples’ Sleep Patterns Diverge
Lifestyle & Hygiene
From the curator: This is some very thoughtful and educational reportage. I like the takeaway at the end.

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
7. JAN 8 || DOCTOR'S LOUNGE
Financial Obstacles Only Partly to Blame for Low CPAP Acceptance
Therapies
From the curator: When patients don't use their therapies, doctors have to look at the full range of reasons why. 

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
8. JAN 8 || FLAVORWIRE
Wellesley’s “Triggering” ‘Sleepwalker’ Sculpture Makes For Genuinely Meaningful Public Art
CultureFrom the curator: Sometimes art says what we can't comprehend as readers. 

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
9. JAN 8 || THE GUARDIAN
As a medical student I’m terrified – but it’s not just my future at risk: Jeremy Hunt’s new contract is set to wreak havoc not only on today’s junior doctors, but on future inexperienced starters like myself, and our patients
Opinion
From the curator: More testimonials from the trenches, please. 

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
10. JAN 8 || VAN WINKLE'S
The Surprising New Link Between Smoking Weed and Sleep
Marijuana

From the curator: I'm afraid the news isn't all that good for tokers.

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 WORLD  || International sleep news

JAN 11 || NEWS & STAR [UK]
More wanted to take part in Winter Warmth Appeal Big Sleep

JAN 11 || TIMES OF INDIA [INDIA]
Bombay HC allows special sleep aid for arrested corporator in jail

JAN 12 || CBC NEWS [CANADA]
BCIT nap room aims to help students focus on their studies: The pilot program follows in the footsteps of companies like Apple and Google

JAN 12 || DAILY MAIL [UK]

British backpacker suffers horrific injuries and faces £400,000 medical bills after she was hit by a taxi driver who fell asleep at the wheel while she was riding a moped in Thailand

JAN 12 || JAPAN TIMES [JAPAN]

Study shows 7% of Japanese 3-year-olds don’t get enough sleep

JAN 13 || MANDURAH MAIL [AUSTRALIA]

Woman falls asleep and rolls car near Mandurah Bridge

JAN 13 || NORTHWEST EVENING MAIL [UK]
Woman admits causing Ulverston crash: A LINDAL woman who caused a crash on the A590 near Ulverston and was presumed to have fallen asleep at the wheel has pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention

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 NATIONAL  || Sleep news across the U.S.

JAN 12 || THE DAILY ITEM [PA]
Police: Suspect took sleeping pill, drove

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
JAN 12 || HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL [CT]
Middlebury firm to pay $600K ‘whistleblower’ claim
From the curator: Dear consumers, this inspires a reminder: Please demand that the labs you visit are registered with the AASM and that they are using licensed RPSGTs and credentialed sleep physicians. Most sleep clinics are legit, but there are still some out there considered "fly by night." Don't give them your money.

JAN 12 || THE JOURNAL-GAZETTE [IN]
TRAA to distribute infant sleep kits

JAN 13 || GRAYSLAKE PATCH [IL]
Driver May Have Fallen Asleep at Wheel, Caused Fatal Crash: Police || Police said a Crystal Lake teen may have fallen asleep at the wheel and collided head on with the woman's car, according to media reports

JAN 14 || DAILY MAIL [NV]
Driver of bus that hit and killed woman 'was seen falling asleep at the wheel, but insisted the victim was jaywalking'

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 PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY || Community health: epidemiology, transportation, industry, education

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
JAN 14 || JOURNAL OF CLINICAL SLEEP MEDICINE
Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening and Treatment in the United States: An Update and Recommendation Overview (abstract)From the curator: Protecting jobs is important, but so is protecting innocent people from sleepy drivers.

JAN 14 || METAL INJECTION
Driver In WORMREICH Crash Charged with Homicide & DUI 

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 BUSINESS & WORKPLACE  || Workplace safety, corporate news, the business of sleep

JAN 12 || PR NEWSWIRE
Sleep Easily Launches with the Promise of Helping People Sleep Well Without Medication (press release)

JAN 13 || CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS
NYU Langone sleep lab to shutter after doctors bolt for Mount Sinai 

JAN 13 || REPORT LINKER
Global Sleep Apnea Market Outlook 2020 (abstract)

JAN 13 || SLEEP REVIEW
ResMed Acquires Inova Labs 

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 THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP  || Scientific research and basic sleep health resources

JAN 7 || OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY BLOG
Somatic arousal and sleepiness/fatigue among patients with sleep-disordered breathing (abstract)

JAN 7 || SLEEP
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure on Glucose Tolerance in Obese Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (abstract)

JAN 7 || SPACE REF
Biological Clock Misalignment Affects Astronaut Sleep

JAN 8 || DOVE PRESS
Temporal tuning of daily rhythms helps advanced cancer patients and cancer survivors feel better, live better, and live longer (abstract)

JAN 9 || ADVANCED EXPERIMENTAL MEDICAL BIOLOGY
Treatment Options for Central Sleep Apnea: Comparison of Ventilator, Oxygen, and Drug Therapies (abstract)

JAN 9 || THE EXAMINER
Scientists discover new link between sleep deprivation and Alzheimer’s Disease

JAN 11 || SLEEP HEALTH
Short-term moderate sleep restriction decreases insulin sensitivity in young healthy adults (abstract)

JAN 12 || NEWS 2
2 Your Health Study connects sleep disorder with heart problems

JAN 12 || PHYSIOTHERAPY THEORY AND PRACTICE
Using near infrared light to manage symptoms associated with restless legs syndrome

JAN 13 || ARKLATEX
New study finds that central sleep apnea later develops into heart arrhythmia

JAN 13 || SLEEP REVIEW
Keratoconus Linked to Sleep Apnea

JAN 14 || SLEEP REVIEW MAGAZINE
Change of Heart: Electrophysiologists are increasingly acknowledging the link between atrial fibrillation and sleep apnea

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 TECHNOLOGY  || Devices and tools for diagnosing and treating sleep health issues

JAN 8 || MEDICAL NEWS TODAY
Snappy Sleep Stager system identifies gene related to shorter sleep

JAN 8 || THE VERGE
The Hush smart earplugs nearly sent me to sleep at CES

JAN 11 || C|NET
The next iPhone software update will help you sleep better 

JAN 11 || EMAIL WIRE
Conscious Choices Announces Sleep Mask With Cool Earplugs A Way To Erase Sleep Debt (press release)

JAN 14 || SOMNOSURE
SomnoSure Education Center Sleep Dentistry: The Dental Appliance as a First-Line Therapy for OSA (disclosure: this article was written by the SHC curator) 

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 PROCEDURES  || Inpatient, outpatient, and surgery-related discussions

JAN 14 || SLEEP-DOCTOR.com
3-Year Outcomes for Inspire Medical Upper Airway Stimulation

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 DRUGS  || Over the counter drugs, prescription medications, illicit substances, nutraceuticals

JAN 7 || ABC 2 NEWS
Report: Melatonin use can have side effects
Melatonin

JAN 7 || CDC - NCHS DATA BRIEF
Sleep Duration, Quality of Sleep, and Use of Sleep Medication, by Sex and Family Type, 2013–2014
Sleep aids

JAN 7 || CONSUMERIST
Melatonin Helps People Fall Asleep, But Has Potential Problems And Side Effects
Melatonin

JAN 7 || FOX 2 NOW
Study indicates sleep aids may lead to dementia
Over-the-counter sleep aids

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
JAN 7 || MEN'S JOURNAL
Can Statins Lower Sleep Apnea Risks? What You Need to Know
Statins
From the curator: Interesting research.

JAN 10 || BUSINESS INSURANCE
Awakening to better sleep therapies: Painkillers, sedatives often not a helpful mix
Prescription drugs

JAN 11 || PROACTIVE INVESTORS

Minerva unveils ‘favorable’ results from Phase 2A clinical trial in insomnia disorder
Insomnia drug trial

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 THERAPIES  || Cognitive behavioral therapy, chronotherapy, phototherapy, complementary alternative medicine, functional medicine

JAN 8 || CHRONOBIOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
A unique, fast-forwards rotating schedule with 12-h long shifts prevents chronic sleep debt
Chronotherapy

JAN 9 || KEARNEY HUB
Inhale, exhale, relax to catch some sleep
Yoga

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 CULTURE  || Cultural and social expressions and discussions about sleep

JAN 7 || VAN WINKLE'S
Seven Strange, Scary Tales From Celebrity Sleepwalkers
Celebrities

JAN 12 || GEEKWIRE
Video inspired by ‘The Martian’ tackles real-life mystery: How to sleep in space
Film

JAN 13 || SCV NEWS
Princess Cruises Study Says Americans Want More Sleep
Travel

JAN 14 || OFFICIAL SITE OF THE COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
The Science of Naps: Yes, this is an actual story
Sports

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 LIFESTYLE & HYGIENE  || Helps for patients and clues for sleep self-improvement

JAN 7 || ITV NEWS
Top tips for a good night's sleep

JAN 11 || FOX 4 KC
Little things can make a big difference for those struggling to fall asleep

JAN 11 || SELF 

18 Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Sleep Without Realizing It

JAN 11 || TECH TIMES
Sleep Deprived? Some Tips To Help You Recover

JAN 11 || THOUGHTLEADERS

Less sleep = aging faster

JAN 12 || ADEQUATE MAN

Places to nap, ranked

JAN 12 || REFINERY 29

Can't Sleep With Someone Else In Bed?

JAN 13 || MEDICAL DAILY
Nap Time: Studies Show Afternoon Naps Help Improve Emotional Health, Memory

JAN 14 || GOOD TO KNOW
Are YOU suffering from 'slanger' (sleep-deprived anger)?

JAN 14 || MEDICAL NEWS TODAY
Just 1 day of unhealthy eating can impact sleep quality

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 FAMILY  || Sleep health through the lifespan: pediatrics, womens health, family health, eldercare

JAN 8 || HEALTH AIM
Sleep: Women Are More Susceptible To Disorders
Women

JAN 8 || INTERIM HEALTHCARE
Aging may affect circadian rhythms, study finds
Aging

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
JAN 8 || UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN HEALTH SYSTEM
Even children with higher IQs behave better when their sleep apnea is fixed
Kids
From the curator: It shouldn't be surprising how much better we perform during the day when we breathe well as we sleep at night.

JAN 9 || DECCAN HERALD
A good night's sleep
Kids

JAN 11 || BEHAVIORAL SLEEP MEDICINE
Mandatory Nap Times and Group Napping Patterns in Child Care: An Observational Study
Preschoolers

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
JAN 11 || PARADE
Miles Brown Wants Kids to Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Kids

From the curator: Gotta love this kid!

JAN 11 || PARENT HERALD
Sleeping Problems During Pregnancy: How Pregnant Women Can Get Better Sleep
Pregnancy

JAN 11 || PHILLY.com
Battling alarming trend among teens: Lack of sleep
Teens

JAN 12 || THE HEALTH SITE
How much sleep do you need during pregnancy?
Pregnancy

JAN 12 || PSYCHOGERIATRICS
Rapid eye movement sleep without atonia may help diagnose Lewy body disease in middle-aged and older patients with somatic symptom disorder
Elderly

JAN 12 || SOMNOSURE
The Relationship Between Low Testosterone and Sleep Apnea: Reasons, Risks, & Treatments (disclosure: this article was written by the SHC curator) 

Men

JAN 14 || WESTERN DAILY PRESS
Disturbed sleep with frequent waking up in the elderly could be a sign of stroke
Elderly

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 MULTIMEDIA  || Sleep health education and issues captured in graphics, photos, audio, film

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
JAN 12 || FOX 16
Ask the Doctor: Sleep apnea and sore throats
TV news video

From the curator: And if not sleep apnea, then UARS. Either way, it needs to be fixed before long-term problems develop.

JAN 12 || HEALTH CENTRAL
Five Signs You're a True Insomniac
Slide show

JAN 12 || WABI TV
Healthy Living: Seasonal Affective Disorder – Identification and Treatment
TV news video

JAN 14 || DAILY MAIL
Night terrors causes woman to scream until woken from sleep
TV news video

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 FIRST PERSON  || Individual accounts of living with sleep disorders

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
JAN 9 || GIZMODO
The Deadly Reality Of Living With Sleep Apnea
Commentary
From the curator: Deadly in multiple ways. Sleep is a systemic process, people. Lack of it has an impact on all the body's systems. Untreated sleep apnea is an invitation to cut one's life short every night they go to bed. 

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
JAN 9 || HUFFINGTON POST SLEEP + WELLNESS
Here's What Happened When I Slept For An Extra Hour Each Night
Personal experiment
From the curator: I'd love to hear more of these stories from readers. 

JAN 11 || CLINICAL ADVISOR
Quantity of sleep continues to decline in Americans
Column

JAN 13 || APPEAL-DEMOCRAT
Dear Abby: Addicted to Ambien
Advice column

 CURATOR'S CHOICE 
JAN 13 || THE PHILLIPINE STAR
Where psycho cabbies come from
Opinion

From the curator: This certainly makes me rethink the use of cabs.

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 DREAM LIFE  || The art and science of dreaming

JAN 7 || YAHOO! TECH
These sensor-studded headphones can sense when you’re in deep sleep, trigger lucid dreams

JAN 12 || VAN WINKLE'S

Veep's Jonah Ryan on Recurring Dreams and Losing Sleep over Fallout 4

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The next news curation will be published on Friday January 22 2016

Have a sleep-related news tip? Share it here!

INSOMNIA: The AASM gets more patient-centered on treatments for insomnia

On March 13, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) announced new efforts to more actively unite sleep physicians and their insomnia patients toward a more successful partnership. This new process-outcome effort could be a boost for hundreds of thousands of insomniacs who have struggled for years with sleeplessness or potential misdiagnoses or cycled through numerous failed drug and behavioral treatments. It could also create a more standard, nationwide healthcare approach to diagnosing and treating insomnia in the years ahead.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which focuses largely on patient-centered outcomes and more cost-effective healthcare, prompted the AASM to pull together specific ways for sleep physicians to measure diagnoses and therapies on a broad scale in order to answer the critical question,

“What insomnia assessment and treatment processes lead
to the best outcomes at the least cost per average patient?” 

It's an answer demanded not only by the ACA, but by thousands of insomnia patients and sleep physicians. Insomnia is considered a high prevalence sleep disorder with significant health and cost impacts for both patients and healthcare providers. However, insomnia and its various treatments have not been studied closely enough on a large scale to show conclusive evidence of positive outcomes for specific therapies. Insomnia is a complex sleep disorder that involves medical, behavioral and pharmacological review, but without standardized protocol for researching, diagnosing or treating it, both physicians and patients are often left on their own to look for solutions. These new efforts hope to change this.

The following processes will be implemented in the future by AASM-accredited healthcare providers in an effort to better answer this question:

1. Assessment of sleep quality
   This means that staff at sleep clinics and centers may be tasked with doing more to determine an insomnia patient's overall sleep quality (including efficiency of sleep). Patients may be required to answer more questions about their sleep habits.
2. Delivery of evidence-based treatment
   This means that staff at sleep clinics and centers will be tasked with doing more to deliver (and keep better records of) evidence-based treatment. Providers may be required to follow more specific treatment protocols based on evidence-backed scientific data.
3. Assessment of daytime functioning
   This means that staff at sleep clinics and centers may be tasked with doing more to determine the level of an insomnia patient's daytime functioning (memory, problem solving, job performance, physical performance, etc.). Patients may be required to answer questions about their daytime activities, job performance, and/or cognitive functioning.
4. Assessment of side effects of treatments
   This means that staff at sleep clinics and centers may be tasked with keeping better records of treatments and their side effects. More careful collection of data accessible to larger electronic record databases could help researchers crunch more accurate numbers related to real-world insomnia diagnoses and therapies than can otherwise be found in a small-range study. 

Meanwhile, the following patient outcomes have been defined as goals for achieving answers to the same fundamental question cited above:

1. Provision of accurate insomnia diagnosis
   This means that staff at sleep clinics and centers may be tasked with doing more to prove a conclusive and accurate diagnosis. This can mean working harder to achieve a differential diagnosis to make sure a patient with insomnia isn't experiencing their symptoms due to another hidden disorder.
2. Improvement of sleep satisfaction or quality
   This means that staff at sleep clinics and centers may be tasked with working harder to help the insomnia patient achieve measurably better sleep quality. There could be much more communication between the patient and the clinic during treatment to ensure patients are committed and adherent to their therapies, for instance.
3. Improve of daytime functioning
   This means that staff at sleep clinics and centers may be tasked with working harder to help the insomnia patient achieve measurably improved daytime function. This may mean more communication between the patient and the clinic to see if job performance, memory or cognitive function has improved.
4. Minimization of treatment-related adverse effects 
   This means that staff at sleep clinics and centers may be tasked with working harder to help the insomnia patient better manage their medications and side effects. Patient may be asked to report side effects regularly and may have their entire drug list reviewed to ensure no drug interactions or improper dosing has occurred.

While these are efforts that physicians' clinics make (or should be making) already, these new directives could mean more proof of their implementation in a way that can help show more reliable evidence when treatments succeed or fail, as patient outcomes will depend on both patient cooperation and more standardized approaches to diagnosis and treatment. These proposed measures are complex and require the earnest participation of not only the patient and their physician, but all of the core healthcare workers involved in any single appointment.

The AASM hopes these new efforts will constitute a fresh starting point for discovering new and better technologies for diagnosis insomnia and therapies for its treatment, plus more comprehensive record keeping and improvements to healthcare settings that benefit both patients and their providers. Once patients cycle through this new system, outcomes should be more effectively measured, lighting the way for more accurate diagnoses, improved insomnia management and the facilitation of important, conclusive process-outcome research needed to get to the bottom of one of America's most common sleep disorders.

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Source

"Quality measures for the care of patients with insomnia." Edinger JD, Buysse DJ, Deriy L, Germain A, Lewin DS, Ong JC, Morgenthaler TI. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 2015;11(3):311–334.