Author Interviews, NYU/NYMC, Sexual Health, Sleep Disorders / 11.07.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_43100" align="alignleft" width="165"]Dustin T. Duncan, ScD Associate Professor Director, NYU Spatial Epidemiology Lab Department of Population Health NYU School of Medicine NYU Langone Health Dr. Duncan[/caption] Dustin T. Duncan, ScD Associate Professor Director, NYU Spatial Epidemiology Lab Department of Population Health NYU School of Medicine NYU Langone Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Sleep and sleep hygiene have emerged as one of the major determinants of health and wellbeing (alongside good diet, regular exercise, and not smoking). However, a small number of studies have used population-representative samples to examine sexual orientation disparities in sleep. Our study aimed to fill this gap in knowledge.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders / 07.07.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Woman sleeping” by Timothy Krause is licensed under CC BY 2.0Nathan E. Cross PhD, first author School of Psychology. Sharon L. Naismith, PhD, senior author Leonard P Ullman Chair in Psychology Brain and Mind Centre Neurosleep, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence The University of Sydney, Australia  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Between 30 to 50% of the risk for dementia is due to modifiable risk factors such depression, hypertension, physical inactivity, obesity, diabetes and smoking. In recent years, multiple longitudinal cohort studies have observed a link between sleep apnoea and a greater risk (1.85 to 2.6 times more likely) of developing cognitive decline and dementia.  Furthermore, one study in over 8000 people also indicated that the presence of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in older adults was associated with an earlier age of cognitive decline, and that treatment of OSA may delay the onset of cognitive impairment. This study reveals important insights into how sleep disorders such as OSA may impact the brain in older adults, as it is associated with widespread structural alterations in diverse brain regions. We found that reduced blood oxygen levels during sleep are related to reduced thickness of the brain's cortex in both the left and right temporal areas - regions that are important in memory and are early sites of injury in Alzheimer's disease. Indeed, reduced thickness in these regions was associated with poorer ability to learn new information, thereby being the first to link this structural change to memory decline.
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 07.07.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Driving...” by Stig Nygaard is licensed under CC BY 2.0Prof. Stephen R Robinson PhD Discipline Leader, Psychology School of Health and Biomedical Sciences RMIT University Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Around the world, driver drowsiness and fatigue are estimated to contribute to 250,000 deaths on the road per year. Current research in this area has focused on detecting when drivers become drowsy, by examining their eye movements or steering patterns, and then alerting the driver with a warning tone or vibration of the steering wheel. Rather than this reactive approach, we are interested in helping to prevent drivers from becoming drowsy in the first place.
Author Interviews, Melatonin, Sleep Disorders / 15.06.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David C. Brodner, M.D. Founder and Principle Physician, The Center for Sinus, Allergy, and Sleep Wellness Double Board-Certified in Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery) and Sleep Medicine Assistant Clinical Professor, Florida Atlantic University College of Medicine Medical Director, Good Samaritan Hospital Sleep Laboratory Senior Medical Advisor, Physician’s Seal, LLC® MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland in the brain and is the body’s natural sleep ingredient. Melatonin levels normally begin to rise in the mid-to late evening and remain high for the majority of the night. Levels begin to decline towards early morning, as the body’s wake cycle is triggered. Research shows that as people age, melatonin levels can drop by as much as 70 percent and their bodies may no longer produce enough melatonin to ensure adequate sleep. Other available products, such as immediate-release melatonin, help initiate the onset of sleep but are usually unable to sustain prolonged sleep maintenance due to an immediate burst of melatonin, which is quickly degraded due to its relatively short half-life (60 minutes). Absorption in the lower digestive tract is limited by melatonin’s limited ability to be absorbed in a low acidity or neutral pH environment. This post-marketing REMfresh® Patient Reported Outcomes DURation (REMDUR) study was designed to obtain real-world evidence about patients’ sleep patterns, duration of sleep before and after REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin™), daily REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin™) use, onset of action, sleep maintenance, quality of sleep, and overall satisfaction with REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin™). Patients with sleep disturbances in the general population who received a sample of CRA-melatonin™ (REMfresh®) from their physicians were invited to complete a 12-question survey. Survey responses were received from 500 patients.
Abuse and Neglect, Allergies, Education, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders / 30.05.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_42070" align="alignleft" width="200"]Michael S. Blaiss, MD, FACAAI Executive Medical Director American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Arlington Heights, IL 60005 Dr. Blaiss[/caption] Michael S. Blaiss, MD, FACAAI Executive Medical Director American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Arlington Heights, IL 60005 MedicalResearch.com: Is this research important? Why or why not? Response: There has not been a comprehensive review of how allergic rhinitis impacts the adolescent population. Most studies put adolescents in with children and yet we know that how disease affects adolescents may be dramatically different than children. Adolescents is a difficult enough time with a chronic condition MedicalResearch.com: What is the key take-home message? Response: The symptoms associated with nasal and eye allergies can be different in adolescents compared with adults and children and lead to poor quality of life and impair learning in school. Adolescents with AR/ARC may experience difficulties falling asleep, night waking, and snoring, and generally have poorer sleep. Therefore health care providers need to aggressively control the adolescent’s allergic rhinitis. 
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Sleep Disorders, Testosterone, Urology / 23.05.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kristen L. Knutson, PhD Associate Professor Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine Department of Neurology Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago, IL  60611​Premal Patel, MD, PGY-5 Urology University of Manitoba MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? What should readers take away from your report? Response: Within the literature there has only been small experimental studies which looked at impaired sleep and testosterone. To our knowledge, there has been no study that has evaluated sleep and testosterone using a population dataset. We utilized the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to assess the association of sleep with serum testosterone. NHANES examines a nationally representative sample of about ~5000 persons each year. After performing a multivariate linear regression of numerous variables within the NHANES database (age, marital status, prior co-morbidities, number of hours of sleep, etc…) we found that a reduction in the number of hours slept, increasing body mass index and increasing age were associated with lower testosterone levels. Given that this is a cross-sectional analysis, we are unable to provide causality of this relationship but we do feel it is important to counsel patients with low testosterone about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle which includes a well-balanced diet, exercise and sufficient sleep.
Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 01.05.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “New York at Night” by Louis Michel Eilshemius (American, Newark, New Jersey 1864–1941 New York) via The Metropolitan Museum of Art is licensed under CC0 1.0Dr Denholm Aspy PhD School of Psychology University of Adelaide MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There are many anecdotal reports of vitamin B6 being used to enhance dream recall, and poor dream has sometimes been considered a possible sign of vitamin B6 deficiency by some clinicians. However, until now there was only a single study that investigated this scientifically. This was a small pilot study in 2002 that included only 12 participants. My new study now provides the strongest evidence to date that vitamin B6 does in fact enhance dream recall. The double-blind placebo-controlled study included 100 participants from around Australia who took either Vitamin B6, a B vitamin complex (with a range of other B vitamins as well), or placebo directly before bed for five days. Participants recorded their dream recall using a logbook containing a range of measures each morning. Results showed the people who took B6 recalled around 64% more content from their dreams on average compared to the placebo group, and that this had no negative impact on sleep quality.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, NIH, PNAS, Sleep Disorders / 19.04.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_41271" align="alignleft" width="150"]Nora D. Volkow MD Senior Investigator Laboratory of Neuroimaging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 Dr. Nora Volkow[/caption] Nora D. Volkow MD Senior Investigator Laboratory of Neuroimaging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Findings from animal studies had shown that sleep deprivation increased the content of beta-amyloid in brain, which is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.  We wanted to test whether this also happened in the human brain after one night of sleep deprivation. We found that indeed one night of sleep deprivation led to an accumulation of beta amyloid in the human brain, which suggest that one of the reasons why we sleep is to help clean our brain of degradation products that if not removed are toxic to brain cells. 
Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 12.04.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Sleep” by Spencer Smith is licensed under CC BY 2.0Kristen L. Knutson, PhD Associate Professor Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine Department of Neurology Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago, IL  60611​ MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Previous research has shown that “night owls” (people who prefer the evening) have higher rates of diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure.  We wanted to determine whether mortality risk was also higher in night owls. We used data from the UK Biobank of almost a half million people who were asked whether they were morning or evening types. We found that the night owls had a 10% increased risk of dying over a 6 ½ year period compared to the morning types, even after taking into account existing health problems.
Aging, Author Interviews, Circadian Rhythm, Sleep Disorders / 29.03.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Woman sleeping” by Timothy Krause is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr Gurprit S. Lall BSc, MSc, PhD, PGCHE, FHEA Medway School of Pharmacy Interim Deputy Head of School Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology Director of Graduate Studies (Research), University of Kent at Medway Chatham Maritime, Chatham, Kent MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Medical advancement in prevention and diagnosis of disease has increased life expectancy significantly, thus generating an ageing population far greater than previously seen.  Because of this, it is essential that we begin to understand the ageing process, together with the health implications associated with senescence.  Recent research has found that changes in the circadian clock, located in the brain, play a contributing role in the decline of many physiological and behavioural traits observed through the ageing process.  One example of this, which is commonly seen in the elderly is a decline in sleep-wake cycle regulation; typically presenting as disrupted sleeping patterns. The circadian clock, in mammals, possesses the ability to integrate our social lifestyle choices with the environmental day-night cycle to generate a 24-hour rhythm to which our physiological functions are synchronised.  It is this synchronisation that plays a vital role in regulating many of our behavioural outputs, such as sleeping-wake patterns.  This clock takes its strongest timing cue from the natural day night cycle governed by the duration of daily sunlight. Our study investigated the changes in the interpretation of this light signal by the circadian clock as we age and its impact on function.  We found that the clock became less responsive to light stimuli at both the level of clock cells and at driving behavioural activity.  We were able to narrow this down to changes in the proteins within cells that relay light information to the molecular time setting machinery.  In detail, light signals are relayed to the clock through an excitatory neurotransmitter called glutamate and this signal is predominantly relayed through NMDA receptors located on the surface of clock cells.  It is the configuration of the NMDA receptor that alters as we age and this leads to the clock becoming less responsive to light.
Author Interviews, Coffee, Sleep Disorders / 01.03.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Coffee being poured Coffee pot pouring cup of coffee. copyright American Heart AssociationJulia F. van den Berg, PhD Leiden University, Department of Clinical Psychology Leiden, The Netherlands  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Caffeine is the most used psychoactive substance worldwide, mostly consumed via coffee, energy drinks, tea and chocolate. Experimental studies have shown that caffeine can negatively affect sleep quality. The timing of caffeine consumption may play a role; the closer to bedtime, the more caffeine consumption is  likely to have a negative effect on sleep. We also wondered if chronotype, being a morning or evening person, would make a difference in the effect of caffeine on sleep. We sent out questionnaires on sleep quality, chronotype, and a detailed questionnaire on type and timing of caffeine use to 880 secondary education students (mean age 21.3 years). We found that for the entire group, the amount of caffeine per week was not associated with sleep quality, regardless of chronotype. However, when we divided the group into subgroups of students who did, and students who did not usually consume caffeine in the evening (after 6PM), we found something interesting. Only for students who did not consume caffeine in the evening (20% of the total sample), a higher total caffeine consumption per week was associated with poorer sleep, in spite of the fact that these students consumed a lot less  caffeine per week than the group who did consume caffeine in the evening. This suggests a self-regulatory mechanism: students who know they are sensitive to caffeine do not drink it in the evening, nevertheless, the caffeinated beverages they drink during the day do affect their sleep.
Author Interviews, CDC, Education, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders / 26.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “He isn't sleeping, he is mad. When we don't get our way pouting always works (okay.. It's worth a try at least!) #kids #dad #father #family #funny #like #parenting #photooftheday #instaphoto #instacute” by dadblunders is licensed under CC BY 2.0Anne G. Wheaton, Ph.D. Epidemiologist Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division of Population Health Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch Atlanta, GA  30341-3717 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Insufficient sleep among children and adolescents is associated with an increased risk for obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, and attention and behavior problems. In previous reports, CDC had found that, nationwide, approximately two thirds of U.S. high school students report sleeping <8 hours per night on school nights. CDC conducted this study to provide state-level estimates of short sleep duration on school nights among middle school and high school students using age-specific recommendations from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). AASM has recommended that children aged 6–12 years should regularly sleep 9–12 hours per 24 hours and teenagers aged 13–18 years should sleep 8–10 hours per 24 hours for optimal health.
Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders, Technology / 24.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “social media” by Jessie James is licensed under CC BY 2.0Jean-Philippe Chaput, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa Research Scientist, Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute Ontario, Canada    MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: No studies to date have examined the association between social media use (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and sleep duration in a representative sample of middle and high school students, who are a vulnerable age group that has reported high levels of social media use and insufficient sleep, writes Buzzoid. Our findings suggest an important association between the use of social media and short sleep duration among student aged 11-20 years. Using social media for at least one hour per day was associated with short sleep duration in a dose-response manner.   
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Sleep Disorders, UCSF / 03.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Now I’m having contractions.” by Remus Pereni is licensed under CC BY 2.0Kathryn A. Lee, RN, CBSM, PhD Department of Family Health Care Nursing University of California at San Francisco San Francisco, California  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Sleep deprivation can adversely affect health and wellbeing in any patient population. In pregnancy, adverse outcomes may include preterm birth, longer labor, cesarean birth, and depression. We found that women with high-risk pregnancies were sleep deprived even prior to hospitalization. Our sample averaged 29 weeks gestation, and half reported getting only between 5 and 6.5 hours of sleep at home before hospital admission. Our sleep hygiene intervention strategies gave them more control over the environment in their hospital room, and they self-reported significantly better sleep than controls. Interestingly, both groups increased their sleep time to almost 7 hours at night, on average, in the hospital before they were discharged home.
Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders, Technology, Weight Research / 13.12.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Video Game Addicts” by Michael Bentley is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr. Marsha Novick, MD Associate professor of pediatrics and family and community medicine, Penn State College of Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The results of this study solidify some well-established data concerning childhood obesity – namely that children who watch more television and have a more sedentary lifestyle are more likely to have an overweight or obese BMI compared with those who are more active. The survey results highlight some associations between increased technology use and difficulty with sleep quantity in children and adolescents. The data suggest:
  • ​​Increased technology use at bedtime, namely television, cell phones, video games and computers, is associated with a decrease in the amount of sleep children are getting. These children were more likely to be tired in the morning and less likely to eat breakfast.
  • Specifically, children who reported watching TV or playing video games before bed got an average of 30 minutes less sleep than those who did not, while kids who used their phone or a computer before bed averaged an hour less of sleep than those who did not.
  • The data also suggests that children with overweight or obesity were more likely to have trouble falling asleep and trouble staying asleep than their normal BMI counterparts
  • When children were reported by their parents to use one form of technology at bedtime, they were more likely to use another form of technology as well.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, NYU/NYMC, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 15.11.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_38308" align="alignleft" width="150"]Ricardo S Osorio MD Center for Brain Health Department of Psychiatry Center of Excellence on Brain Aging NYU Langone Medical Center New York, NY 10016, USA Dr. Osorio[/caption] Ricardo S Osorio MD Center for Brain Health Department of Psychiatry Center of Excellence on Brain Aging NYU Langone Medical Center New York, NY 10016, USA  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This was a study that was performed in a group of healthy normal elderly from the community that volunteered for studies on memory and aging. The main findings were that sleep apnea was very common, in almost all cases undiagnosed, and that it was associated with a longitudinal increase in amyloid burden which is considered one of the hallmark lesions of Alzheimer's disease
Author Interviews, Menopause, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 09.11.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Stephanie S. Faubion, MD, FACP, NCMP, IF Director, Executive and International Medicine Director, Office of Women’s Health Associate Professor of Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The Data Registry on Experiences of Aging, Menopause and Sexuality (DREAMS) was used for this study investigating the association between vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats) and risk for obstructive sleep apnea, a common and underdiagnosed sleep disorder in women which is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. We found that Women who had severe or very severe hot flashes or night sweats were more likely to be at increased risk for obstructive sleep apnea.  This association held even after adjusting for age, body mass index, smoking and hypertension, such that the odds of women having intermediate /high risk for obstructive sleep apnea were 1.87 times higher for those with severe/very severe hot flashes/night sweats compared to those with less severe symptoms.  We decided to analyze the group of women with normal body mass index, and indeed, this finding was still significant in the lean group of women.
Author Interviews, Insomnia, Kidney Disease / 04.11.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jun Ling (Lucy) Lu, MD, CCRP Senior Clinical Research Coordinator in the Department of Medicine Csaba P Kovesdy MD FASN Fred Hatch Professor of Medicine Director, Clinical Outcomes and Clinical Trials Program Division of Nephrology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center Nephrology Section Chief, Memphis VA Medical Center Memphis TN, 38163  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Around one third of the world’s population suffers from insomnia. Previous studies showed that sleep disorders affect the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and the sympatho-adrenal system, which may cause abnormalities in several organ systems and pathways causing metabolic or cardiovascular abnormalities. However, there is inadequate evidence of an association between chronic insomnia and adverse renal outcomes. After examining 938,473 US veterans (4.4% of them had chronic insomnia) with baseline estimated eGFR >60 ml/min/1.73m2, we found that chronic insomnia is associated with a 43% higher risk of all-cause mortality, a 2.5-fold higher incidence of eGFR ≤45ml/min/1.73m2, a 2.3-fold higher ESRD risk, and with rapid loss of kidney function.
Author Interviews, Education, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders / 12.10.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jack Peltz, Ph.D. Clinical assistant professor in Psychiatry Rochester Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Approximately 90% of high-school aged adolescents get either insufficient sleep during school nights or barely meet the required amount of sleep (ie, 8–10 hours) expected for healthy functioning.(1) In fact, sleep problems and insufficient sleep are so pervasive for adolescents that they could be considered an epidemic due to their adverse impact on adolescent mental and physical health.(2–5) As a result,addressing insufficient adolescent sleep represents a critical point of study and intervention. The growing body of evidence suggests that later school start times (SST), 8:30 AM or later as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatricians,6 convey multiple benefits on adolescents, including improved sleep, better mental and physical health, and improved academic outcomes.(7–10) This research, however, has focused on the direct effects of delaying school start times, or specifically how moving SST back directly predicts changes in an outcome (eg, mental health, academic achievement). This type of analysis precludes examining the important role that SST might play as a condition or context under which other sleeprelated processes take place. For instance, earlier school start times might exacerbate the impact of sleep-related processes on adolescent behavioral health outcomes. Thus, incorporating school start times as a larger contextual variable that might moderate models of sleep and adolescent functioning represents a gap in the literature and a unique opportunity to advance conceptual models. Accordingly, the current study examines the moderating role of school start times on the associations between sleep hygiene, sleep quality, and mental health.
Author Interviews, CDC, Menopause, Sleep Disorders / 02.10.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Anjel Vahratian PhD MPH Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist Branch Chief at the National Center For Health Statistics   Centers for Disease Control and PreventionDr. Anjel Vahratian PhD MPH Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist Branch Chief at the National Center For Health Statistics Centers for Disease Control and Prevention MedicalResearch.com: Why did you conduct this study? Response: Our research focuses on the health of women as they age and transition from the childbearing period. During this time, women may be at increased risk for chronic health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. As insufficient sleep is a modifiable behavior that is associated with these chronic health conditions, we wanted to examine how sleep duration and quality varies by menopausal status.
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, JAMA, Sleep Disorders / 30.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yue Leng, M.Phil, MD, PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco SFVAMC  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is a very common but treatable condition in older adults. Recent evidence has suggested a link between SDB and cognitive decline in the elderly, but previous studies have been conflicting and have used different methods to examine SDB or cognition. Therefore, it is difficult to draw conclusion on the consistency of this association based on each individual study. Moreover, because each study has reported on specific domains using different scales, it is unclear if Sleep-disordered breathing has differential effects on cognitive domains. The current study is the first to quantitively synthesize all published population-based studies, which covers a total of over 4 million adults, and concluded that people with Sleep-disordered breathing were 26% more likely to develop cognitive impairment than those without SDB. They also had slightly worse performance in executive function but not in global cognition or memory. 
Author Interviews, Education, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders, University of Michigan / 22.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_36583" align="alignleft" width="180"]Galit Dunietz, Ph.D., MPH Doctor of Philosophy Department of Neurology University of Michigan  Ann Arbor MI Dr. Dunietz[/caption] Galit Dunietz, Ph.D., MPH Epidemiologist, Sleep Disorders Center Department of Neurology University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Insufficient sleep has a negative impact on health, cognition and mood and is linked to motor vehicle accidents. However, sleep loss in adolescents has become an epidemic and arises in part from biological processes that delay sleep and wake timing at the onset of puberty. This biology does not fit well with early school start times (before 8:30 a.m.). Despite recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to delay school start times, most schools in the U.S. have current start times before 8:30 a.m. In this nationally representative study of US parents of teens, we examined whether parents supported or opposed later school start times (after 8:30 a.m.). We also examined what may have influenced their opinions. We found that only about half of surveyed parents of teens with early school start times supported later school start times. Opinions appeared to depend in part on what challenges and benefits were expected to result from the change. For example, parents who expected an improvement in their teen’s academic performance or sleep quantity tended to support the change, whereas parents that expected negative impact on afterschool activities or transportation opposed delays in school start times.  We also found that parents had misconception about sleep needs of their adolescents, as the majority perceived 7-7.5 hours of sleep as sufficient, or possibly sufficient even at this young age when 8-10 hours are typically recommended.
Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 10.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_36391" align="alignleft" width="125"]Roland Staud, M.D. Professor of Medicine University of Florida Gainesville, FL  Dr. Staud[/caption] Roland Staud, M.D. Professor of Medicine University of Florida Gainesville, FL MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Fatigue after exertion or sleep loss is normal. However, fatigue at rest is not. Resting fatigue is reported by cancer, heart disease, RA, SLE patients and patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). CFS has been mostly associated with chronic infections but findings are inconsistent. We hypothesized that chronic fatigue is signaled by sensitized tissue receptors to the CNS where minute amounts of muscle metabolites can activate these receptors (metabo-receptors). Why the receptors are sensitized is unclear. To test our hypothesis we injected CFS patients with lidocaine or normal saline into muscles once. We saw a statistical improvement of overall fatigue (27%) with lidocaine compared to saline. Conclusion: Chronic fatigue syndrome patients are using metabo-receptors for inappropriately signaling fatigue to the CNS.
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders / 26.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_36168" align="alignleft" width="147"]Rachel Y. Moon, M.D. Division Head, General Pediatrics Professor of Pediatrics University of Virginia School of Medicine Charlottesville, VA 22908 Dr. Moon[/caption] Rachel Y. Moon, M.D. Division Head, General Pediatrics Professor of Pediatrics University of Virginia School of Medicine Charlottesville, VA 22908 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Approximately 3500 babies die suddenly and unexpectedly during sleep in the US every year. Even though there are safe sleep recommendations, many parents do not follow them because of misinformation or misconceptions. Therefore we tested 2 complementary interventions to promote infant safe sleep practices. The first was a nursing quality improvement intervention aimed at ensuring that mothers would hear key messages and that there was appropriate role modeling of safe sleep practices by hospital personnel. The second was a mobile health intervention, in which mothers received videos and text messages or emails with safe sleep information during the baby's first two months of life. We randomized mothers to receive either the safe sleep interventions or breast-feeding interventions (the control interventions). Mothers who received the mobile health intervention reported statistically significantly higher rates of placing their babies on their back, room sharing without bed sharing, no soft bedding use, and pacifier use, compared with mothers who received a control intervention. Although the nursing quality improvement intervention did not influence infant safe sleep practices, there was an interaction such that mothers who received both the safe sleep nursing quality improvement intervention and the safe sleep mobile health intervention had the highest rates of placing their babies on the back.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 26.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_36148" align="alignleft" width="168"]O. Michael Bubu, M.D., M.P.H., C.P.H Wheaton College Dr. Bubu[/caption] O. Michael Bubu, M.D., M.P.H., C.P.H Wheaton College MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are both chronic disease conditions that are highly prevalent, cause significant morbidity and mortality to those afflicted, and have an enormous socio-economic impact. Recent human and animal studies describe associations between Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, whether OSA accelerates longitudinal increases in amyloid (Aβ) burden in MCI patients is presently unclear.
  • In this study, we examined the effect of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) on longitudinal changes in brain amyloid deposition, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers including CSF beta-amyloid 42 peptide (Aβ-42), CSF TAU protein, CSF phosphorylated TAU protein (PTAU) in Cognitive Normal (CN), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and AD elderly. Brain amyloid (Aβ) burden, CSF Abeta42 and tau proteins are biomarkers (measurable substances whose presence are indicative) of AD-associated pathologic changes in the brain.
  • Data from 1639 subjects (516 CN, 798 MCI and 325 AD, mean ages = 74.4 ± 5.8; 73.4 ± 7.4 and 75.1 ± 7.8 respectively), in the Alzheimer’s disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database was used. OSA was self-reported and participants were labeled OSA positive, or OSA negative (mean ages = 72.3 ± 7.1; and 73.9 ± 7.3 respectively). Statistical analyses were conductedto examine whether OSA positive compared to OSA negative participants experienced significant differences in the rate of change of AD biomarkers over time (mean = 2.52 ± 0.51 years) in each group (CN, MCI and AD). Both OSA positives and negatives were similar in age, APOE e4 status, and history of cardiovascular disease. The final models controlled for sex, body mass index (BMI), and Continuous Pulmonary Airway Pressure (CPAP) use.
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Melatonin, Occupational Health / 28.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Parveen Bhatti, PhD Associate Member Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Evidence in humans for an association between shift work and cancer has been mixed. This may be due to difficulties in accurately assessing long-term exposures to shift work in studies of cancer risk. We took a different approach that circumvented these difficulties. Rather than look at cancer risk directly, we measured, among actively employed shift workers, a marker of DNA damage that has been linked to cancer. When repaired by cellular machinery, this particular marker is excreted in urine where it can be measured. We found that, compared to sleeping at night during their night off, shift workers had lower urinary levels of the DNA damage marker during their night work. This effect appears to be driven by reductions in circulating melatonin levels among shift workers during night work relative to night sleep. Given that melatonin has been shown to enhance repair of DNA damage, our results suggest that, during night work, shift workers have reduced ability to repair DNA damage resulting in lower levels being excreted in their urine. Because of this, shift workers likely have higher levels of DNA damage remaining in their cells, which can lead to mutations and cause cancer.
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Education, PLoS, Sleep Disorders / 21.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Dorothee Fischer Department of Environmental Health Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts Center for Injury Epidemiology, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety Hopkinton, Massachusetts, MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Chronotypes are a result of how the circadian clock embeds itself into the 24h light-dark cycle, producing earlier and later individuals ("larks and owls") with regards to rhythms in physiology, cognition and behavior, including sleep. It can be beneficial for health and safety to sync forced wake times (work, school) with individual chronotypes, thereby reducing the misalignment between sleep, circadian rhythms and external demands. To better inform potential interventions such as tailored work schedules, more information is needed about the prevalence of different chronotypes and how chronotype differs by age and sex. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first large-scale and nationally representative study of chronotypes in the US.
Author Interviews, Pain Research, Rheumatology, Sleep Disorders / 20.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_35448" align="alignleft" width="96"]Atul A. Deodhar, MD, MRCP, FACP, FACR Professor of Medicine Medical Director, Rheumatology Clinics Medical Director, Immunology Infusion Center Oregon Health & Science University  Dr. Deodhar[/caption] Atul A. Deodhar, MD, MRCP, FACP, FACR Professor of Medicine Medical Director, Rheumatology Clinics Medical Director, Immunology Infusion Center Oregon Health & Science University  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The GO-ALIVE study (CNTO148AKS3001) is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of golimumab, an anti-TNFα monoclonal antibody, administered intravenously (IV), in adult patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The primary objective is to evaluate the efficacy of golimumab 2 mg/kg in patients with active AS by assessing the reduction in signs and symptoms of AS. The secondary objectives include assessing efficacy related to improving physical function, range of motion, health-related quality of life, and other health outcomes. A total of 208 patients who had a diagnosis of definite  ankylosing spondylitis (per modified New York criteria) and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) ≥4, total back pain visual analogue scale (VAS) ≥4, and CRP ≥0.3 mg/dL were randomized.  Patients were treated with IV golimumab (n=105) at Weeks 0, 4, and every 8 weeks through Week 52 or placebo (n=103) at Weeks 0, 4, and 12, with crossover to IV golimumab at Week 16 and through Week 52.