Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Stroke / 01.02.2015

Dmitry Yaranov, MD Danbury Hospital Western Connecticut Health NetworkMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dmitry Yaranov, MD Danbury Hospital Western Connecticut Health Network Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Yaranov: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke (CVA) that is not included in the usual cardioembolic risk assessments for patients with atrial fibrillation. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of OSA on CVA rate in patients with atrial fibrillation. We found that Obstructive sleep apnea in patients with atrial fibrillation is an independent predictor of CVA and this association may have important clinical implications in CVA risk stratification.
Author Interviews, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Cognitive Issues, Sleep Disorders / 26.01.2015

Michael K. Scullin, Ph.D. Principal Investigator of the Sleep Neuroscience & Cognition (SNaC) Laboratory and an Assistant Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience Director Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory Baylor UniversityMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael K. Scullin, Ph.D. Principal Investigator of the Sleep Neuroscience & Cognition (SNaC) Laboratory and an Assistant Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience Director Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory Baylor University Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Scullin: One of the purposes of sleep in healthy adults is to optimize cognitive functioning. When we lose out on a few hours of sleep we tend not to be able to focus or think as well as when we get enough sleep (typically 8 hours). Even more interesting is that particular aspects of sleep physiology—our deepest levels of sleep known as slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep—are essential to our brain’s ability to take the information that we learn during the day and stabilize those memories so that we can use them in the future. Sleep quantity and quality change markedly across the lifespan, though there are individual differences in how much one’s sleep changes. Our work was concerned with the possible long-term repercussions of cutting back on sleep and getting lower quality sleep (less slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep).  We reviewed approximately 200 scientific articles on this topic and we found that the amount of total sleep and the quality of that sleep is important to cognitive and memory functioning in young adults and middle-aged adults and can even predict how well someone’s cognitive functioning will be decades later. Thus, if you’re sleeping well when you are 40 then you are investing in preserving your mental functioning at age 50.
Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders, Neurology, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders / 23.01.2015

James Tao, MD, Ph.D Assistant Professor Director, EEG Lab Department of Neurology, The University of Chicago, IL.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: James Tao, MD, Ph.D Assistant Professor Director, EEG Lab Department of Neurology, The University of Chicago, IL. Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Tao: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the leading cause of mortality in patients with chronic uncontrolled epilepsy. Patients often died in sleep, in bed, and unwitnessed. They were often found in prone position. These circumstances of SUDEP are remarkably similar to those of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In our study, we found that 73% of 253 SUDEP patients were died in prone position. These findings suggest that sudden unexpected death in epilepsy may share the mechanisms similar to SIDS.
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Sleep Disorders / 31.12.2014

Jacob Nota M.S. Binghamton Anxiety Clinic Department of Psychology Binghamton University Binghamton, NY 13902MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jacob Nota M.S. Binghamton Anxiety Clinic Department of Psychology Binghamton University Binghamton, NY 13902 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As psychologists we are interested in helping individuals improve their quality of life and reduce their symptoms. We know that many people, including those with anxiety and mood disorders, are bothered by repetitive negative thoughts that feel like they are out of control. We are always looking for new ways that we might be able to reduce these kinds of symptoms. We are specifically interested in learning more about how sleep relates to psychopathology because an extensive literature documents the cognitive and emotional impact of sleep disruption. Therefore, addressing sleep disruption may be another avenue for us to explore for helping out clients. However, there is relatively little research on the relation between sleep timing and psychopathology compared to that studying the relation between sleep duration and psychopathology, despite previous studies showing that individuals who go to bed later than they want to have more disorders characterized by worry, rumination, and obsessing. This study collected cross-sectional data (i.e., measuring sleep, worry, rumination, and obsessing all at the same point in time) from a group of 100 young adults at Binghamton University. We looked at measures of worry, rumination, and obsessing as well as a newer measure of the process thought to be shared across these psychological phenomena (repetitive negative thinking). We found that people who sleep for shorter amounts of time and go to bed later also have greater levels of worry, rumination, and obsessing. This is called repetitive negative thinking (RNT). We also found that individuals who are classified as "evening type" (i.e., tend to stay up later and shape their daily activities around this schedule), a trait that is linked to biological circadian rhythms, report significantly greater levels of repetitive negative thinking compared to individuals who are "morning" or neither type (i.e., not strongly morning or evening). This is one of the first studies to show that repetitive negative thinking is related to both how long you sleep and when you sleep.
Author Interviews, JAMA, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Pediatrics, University Texas, UT Southwestern / 26.12.2014

Ron B. Mitchell, MD Professor of Otolaryngology and Pediatrics William Beckner Distinguished Chair in Otolaryngology Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology UT Southwestern and Children's Medical Center Dallas ENT Clinic Dallas, TX 75207MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ron B. Mitchell, MD Professor of Otolaryngology and Pediatrics William Beckner Distinguished Chair in Otolaryngology Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology UT Southwestern and Children's Medical Center Dallas ENT Clinic Dallas, TX 75207 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Mitchell: The “gold standard” for the diagnosis of and quantification of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is polysomnography (PSG or a ‘sleep study’). However, the majorities of T&A procedures are done without PSG and are based on a clinical diagnosis. This is because PSG is expensive, requires overnight observation and is often unavailable. It is important to diagnose and quantify OSA as it allows for surgical planning and predicts the need and type of treatment after surgery. We used data from the Childhood Adenotonsillectomy (CHAT) study; a large multicenter trial (RCT), to look at the ability of clinical parameters to predict the severity of obstructive sleep apnea in children scheduled for a T&A. The main findings of the study are that certain clinical parameters such as obesity and African American race as well as high scores on certain validated questionnaires (such as the pediatric sleep questionnaire- PSQ) are associated, but cannot predict OSA severity. PSG remains the only way to measure objectively the severity of OSA.
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Insomnia / 23.12.2014

Michael Nadorff, PhD, Assistant professor Mississippi State University Starkville, Miss.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Nadorff, PhD, Assistant professor Mississippi State University Starkville, Miss. Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Nadorff: A growing literature has found that insomnia symptoms are associated with suicidal behavior, and several studies suggest that this relation may be independent of several different forms of psychopathology.  However, little research has examined the role sleep disorders, such as insomnia, play in explaining why known risk factors, such as alcohol use, are associated with suicidal behavior.  In our study, we examined whether insomnia symptoms explained a significant portion of the relation between alcohol symptoms and suicide risk.  We found that for both men and women insomnia symptoms explained a significant amount of the variance in the relation between alcohol use and suicide risk.
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Nature, Sleep Disorders / 14.12.2014

Dr. Jonathan L. Silverberg MD PhD MPH Assistant Professor in Dermatology, Medical Social Sciences and Preventive Medicine Northwestern University, Chicago, IllinoisMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jonathan L. Silverberg MD PhD MPH Assistant Professor in Dermatology, Medical Social Sciences and Preventive Medicine Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Silverberg: Chronic itch related to childhood eczema has been shown to cause worsened sleep quality with shorter sleep duration, more frequent and prolonged awakening, and overall lower sleep efficiency. However, little is known about the sleep disturbances that occur in adults with eczema.
Cognitive Issues, Sleep Disorders / 30.11.2014

Daniel Sternberg PhD. Data Scientist at LumosityMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Sternberg PhD. Data Scientist at Lumosity Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Sternberg: We were interested in examining how lifestyle factors such as sleep, mood and time of day impact cognitive game play performance. We analyzed game play performance data on Lumosity tasks from more than 60,000 participants and found that performance on the tasks designed to challenge memory, speed, and flexibility peaked in the morning, while performance on tasks designed to challenge aspects of crystallized knowledge such as arithmetic and verbal fluency peaked in the afternoon. Overall, game performance for most tasks was highest after seven hours of sleep and with positive moods, though performance on tasks that challenged crystallized knowledge sometimes peaked with less sleep.
Author Interviews, Depression, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, PLoS / 26.11.2014

Dr. Marcus Povitz MD Department of Community Health Sciences University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Adjunct Professor and Clinical Fellow Western University Department of Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Marcus Povitz MD Department of Community Health Sciences University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Adjunct Professor and Clinical Fellow Western University Department of Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Povitz: Both depression and obstructive sleep apnea are important causes of illness and have overlapping symptoms. Both feature poor quality sleep, difficulty with concentration and memory as well as daytime sleepiness or fatigue. Previous research showed that depression is common in individuals with sleep apnea, but studies investigating the effect of treating sleep apnea on depressive symptoms have had conflicting results. Our study combined the results of all randomized controlled trials of participants who were treated for sleep apnea with CPAP or mandibular advancement devices where symptoms of depression were measured both before and after treatment. We found that in studies of individuals without a lot of symptoms of depression there was still a small improvement in these symptoms after treatment with CPAP or mandibular advancement device. In 2 studies of individuals with more symptoms of depression there was a large improvement in symptoms of depression.
Memory, Sleep Disorders, University of Pennsylvania / 22.11.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jennifer Choi Tudor, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow Ted Abel Lab Department of Biology 10-17 Smilow Center for Translational Research Philadelphia, PA 19104 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Tudor: We (Dr. Tudor, Dr. Abel, and colleagues) are interested in better understanding the molecular changes that occur with sleep deprivation.  Previously, we found that the expression of over 500 genes changes with sleep deprivation and that many of the genes were involved with protein synthesis.  Upon further investigation, we found that 5 hours of sleep deprivation impairs protein synthesis in the hippocampus, a brain region critical for memory.  This impairment is due to changes in mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E binding protein 2 (4EBP2) is critical to this process.  When we boosted levels of 4EBP2 in the hippocampus, mice that were sleep deprived were resistant to the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation on memory.
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Insomnia / 02.11.2014

Lars Laugsand, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow Department of Public Health Norwegian University of Science in Technology Trondheim, Norway.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lars Laugsand, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow Department of Public Health Norwegian University of Science in Technology Trondheim, Norway. Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Laugsand: Very few prospective studies have assessed the association of insomnia symptoms and risk for injuries. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Laugsand: We found that increasing number of insomnia symptoms was strongly associated with higher risk for both overall unintentional fatal injuries and fatal motor-vehicle injuries in a dose-dependent manner. Those who reported to suffer from all major insomnia symptoms were at considerably higher risk than those who had no symptoms or only a few symptoms. Among the different insomnia symptoms, difficulties falling asleep appeared to have the strongest and most robust association with fatal injuries.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 29.10.2014

Christian Benedict PhD Associate Professor of Neuroscience Uppsala University Dept. of NeuroscienceMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christian Benedict PhD Associate Professor of Neuroscience Uppsala University Dept. of Neuroscience   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Answer: Our study involved ~1500 men who were followed from 1970 to 2010. All participants were 50 years old at the start of study. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Answer: Men with reports of sleep disturbances had a 50%-higher risk to develop Alzheimer's disease during the 40-year follow-up period, than men without reports of sleep disturbances.
Cognitive Issues, Menopause, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 22.10.2014

Chitra Lal, MD. Assistant Professor Medical University of South CarolinaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chitra Lal, MD. Assistant Professor Medical University of South Carolina     Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lal: We studied the prevalence of cognitive problems in early postmenopausal women (age 45-60 years) with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS+) and without obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS-) using a questionnaire called the Mail-In Cognitive Function Screening Instrument (MCFSI). We found that the mean MCFSI scores after adjusting for depression were significantly higher in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome+ then the OSAS- group, indicating more self-reported cognitive difficulty in OSAS+ women
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 19.10.2014

Adrian Baranchuk MD FACC FRCPC Associate Professor of Medicine Director, EP Training Program Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Adrian Baranchuk MD FACC FRCPC Associate Professor of Medicine Director, EP Training Program Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Baranchuk: In this study, we investigated whether obstructive sleep apnea increases the risk of atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass surgery. We found the risk to increase by approximately two-fold for patients with obstructive sleep apnea, suggesting that this disease is a strong predictor of atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass surgery. We also found that the risk increases in patients with more severe obstructive sleep apnea. This is an important association to explore since atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass surgery increases patient mortality, the risk of stroke, hospital stay, healthcare costs, and has substantial burden on patients and their families. It is also a common complication of the surgery, occurring in up to half of the patients. Knowing which factors increase its risk gives us a better understanding of how to manage it and mitigate its negative consequences.
Aging, Author Interviews, Insomnia / 13.10.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jen-Hao Chen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Health Sciences University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Chen: In this study, we mapped four commonly-reported insomnia symptoms (feeling rested when waking up, having trouble falling asleep, waking up during the night, waking up too early and not being able to fall asleep again) to direct assessment of sleep characteristics in the general population of U.S. older adults. While we know older adults frequently complain about their sleep, we know little about how these complain reflect older adults’ actual sleep outcomes. Using innovative actigraphy data of 727 older adults aged 62-91 from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, we found that two of these four common report of insomnia symptoms did not match specific objective sleep characteristics as these questions intends to index. The question of feeling rested was not related to any objective sleep characteristic. The question of difficulty falling asleep was not related to the objective measure of time to fall sleep but was related to other objective sleep characteristics. For waking up during the night question, high frequency was associated with more wake time after sleep onset and numbers of wake bout (but was also related to other objective sleep characteristics). For waking up too earlier question, answer of this question was related to earlier wake up time. But again, other objective sleep characteristics also predicted frequency of waking up earlier. In sum, many of the relationships and non-relationships found in this study were unexpected. Findings suggested that these widely used questions did not related to older adults’ sleep outcomes as exactly as the wording suggested. Thus, while older adults’ report of these questions are related to objective sleep characteristics in some ways, insomnia symptoms and objective sleep characteristics did not complete match each other as expected.
Author Interviews, Multiple Sclerosis, Sleep Disorders, UC Davis / 14.09.2014

Steven D. Brass, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. PI and Lead Author on the study Director of Neurology Sleep Clinical Program Co-Medical Director of Sleep Medicine Laboratory Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Neurology UC Davis Health System 4860 Y Street — Suite 3700 Sacramento, CA 95817 MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Steven D. Brass, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. PI and Lead Author on the study Director of Neurology Sleep Clinical Program Co-Medical Director of Sleep Medicine Laboratory Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Neurology UC Davis Health System 4860 Y Street — Suite 3700 Sacramento, CA 95817 Medical Research: What was the primary finding of your study? Dr. Brass : Among the 11,400 surveys mailed out to all members of the Northern California Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2,810 (24.6%) were returned. Of these, 2,375 (84.5%) met the inclusion criteria. Among the completed surveys, 898 (37.8%) screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea, 746 (31.6%) for moderate to severe insomnia, and 866 (36.8%) for restless legs syndrome.  In contrast, only 4%, 11%, and 12% of the cohort reported being diagnosed by a health care provider with obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, and restless legs syndrome, respectively. Excessive daytime sleepiness was noted in 30% of respondents based on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. More than 60% of the respondents reported an abnormal level of fatigue based on the Fatigue Severity Scale.  There was also an increased risk between complaints of Fatigue based on screening positive for the Fatigue Severity Scale  and screening positive for Obstructive Sleep Apnea  (1.850, with a 95% p-value < 0.001).
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 12.09.2014

Paul M. Macey, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in Residence Associate Dean for Information Technology and Innovations, Chief Innovation Officer UCLA School of Nursing and Brain Research InstituteMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paul M. Macey, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in Residence Associate Dean for Information Technology and Innovations, Chief Innovation Officer UCLA School of Nursing and Brain Research Institute Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Macey: People with sleep apnea are less able to control the blood flowing to their brain, in particular when they grip tightly, or have their foot put in cold water. We measured changes in blood flowing through the brain using an MRI scanner while people gripped hard, had their foot placed in cold water, and breathed out hard into a tube with a very small hole in it. These activities all lead to more blood flowing to the brain in healthy people, which probably helps protect the cells from being starved of blood and oxygen. However, people with sleep apnea send less blood that the healthy participants during the gripped and cold foot activities. A further important finding is that women with sleep apnea are worse off than men. The female patients showed much weaker blood flow than the males, even accounting for normal differences between men and women.
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 11.09.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marcia Klein M.D., Ph.D. Adjunctive professor Rio de Janeiro State University This study was conducted at the Discipline of Clinical and Experimental Pathophysiology - Rio de Janeiro State University and the financial support of FAPERJ. Medical Research: What was the main findings of the study? Dr. Klein: The main findings were that a diet with moderate calories restriction in obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea may be able not only to reduce body fat but also to reduce obstructive sleep apnea severity and blood pressure.
Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 10.09.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Shona E. Fang Sc.D. New England Research Institutes, Inc Watertown, Massachusetts Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Fang: Sleep duration varied by neighborhood in Boston, a diverse urban setting. Individual factors, including socioeconomic status, explained some of this variation, while neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) explained a much larger portion.
Author Interviews, Insomnia, Occupational Health / 04.09.2014

Tea Lallukka, PhD Finnish Institute of Occupational Health & University of Helsinki, Hjelt Institute, Department of Public Health University of Helsinki, FinlandMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tea Lallukka, PhD Finnish Institute of Occupational Health & University of Helsinki, Hjelt Institute, Department of Public Health University of Helsinki, Finland Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lallukka: Our study used nationally representative survey data linked with register data on medically certified sickness absence among working -aged Finnish women and men. We showed consistent associations between insomnia symptoms, sleep duration, and being tired and sickness absence. The follow-up lasted around 7 years. Sickness absence days were derived from comprehensive registers from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. The associations were broadly similar among women and men. Furthermore, they remained even after considering key correlates of sleep and sickness absence including socioeconomic position, working conditions, health behaviors, obesity, and mental and physical health. Health data were derived from physical examination conducted by field physicians. These data are more objective, and help provide more robust evidence. We further covered all key sleep disturbances and sleep duration for more comprehensive understanding about the contribution of sleep to sickness absence. Finally, a novel method developed by the authors (Härkänen & Kaikkonen) allowed us to estimate the difference in sickness absence days per working year among those reporting and not reporting different sleep disturbances. Using the difference in days absent from work, we were further able to estimate the hypothetical direct costs of sickness absence highlighting notable societal significance of sleep. Thus, a large part of all costs of sickness absence are attributable to poor sleep. For example, those sleeping 5 hours or less or 10 hours or more, were absent from work ca 5-9 days more, as compared to those with optimal sleep length. The optimal sleep length with the lowest risk of sickness absence was 7 hours 46 minutes for men and 7 hours 38 minutes for women.
Author Interviews, Lancet, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 30.08.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Mary J Morrell Faculty of Medicine, National Heart & Lung Institute Professor of Sleep & Respiratory Physiology Imperial College, London Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Morrell: Our results showed that when older patients with obstructive sleep apnea were treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) they had significantly less daytime sleepiness than those not treated with CPAP. A comparison of the costs and benefits of treatment suggested that CPAP would meet the usual criteria for being funded by the NHS.
Author Interviews, Insomnia, Mental Health Research / 31.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pasquale K Alvaro School of Psychology University of Adelaide South Australia, Australia Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: In adolescents, insomnia is related to depression beyond chronotype (a classification system for circadian rhythms or body clock), anxiety and age. Insomnia is also related to Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) beyond chronotype, depression and age. Depression accounts for the relationship between insomnia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and Social Phobia (SP). Furthermore, an evening chronotype  (delayed sleep phase, that is, preferring to go to bed in the early morning) predicts insomnia beyond depression, anxiety and age. Moreover, an evening chronotype predicts depression beyond insomnia, anxiety and age. Finally, insomnia and depression account for the relationships between an evening chronotype and panic disorder, OCD, SAD and SP.
Author Interviews, Schizophrenia, Sleep Disorders / 08.07.2014

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Ettinger Departments of Psychology University of Bonn Bonn, GermanyMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Ettinger Departments of Psychology University of Bonn Bonn, Germany Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Ettinger: We found that 24-hour sleep deprivation induced subjective cognitive, perceptual and emotional alterations resembling the symptoms of schizophrenia. We also observed that sleep deprivation led to a deficit in a sensorimotor filter mechanism called prepulse inhibition (PPI), similar to the disturbance seen in schizophrenia.
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Sleep Disorders / 08.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Vincenza Spallone MD PhD Endocrinology and Neurology Department of Systems Medicine Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy Vincenza Spallone MD PhD Endocrinology and Neurology Department of Systems Medicine Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy   Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Spallone:To investigate a possible relationship between painful diabetic polyneuropathy (PDPN) and the circadian pattern of blood pressure (BP), we performed ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in 113 diabetic patients with PDPN, with painless diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) and without DPN. In addition, we evaluated neuropathic pain, sleep, risk for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), autonomic function, and in a subgroup of patients, depressive symptoms. The main finding was that patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy displayed impaired nocturnal fall in BP compared to those without neuropathy, and higher nocturnal systolic blood pressure than the other two groups. Although the day-night change (∆) in blood pressure failed to reach a significant difference between painful diabetic polyneuropathy and DPN groups, nondipping (the loss of nocturnal fall in systolic BP) was more strictly associated with painful diabetic polyneuropathy than DPN and in multivariate analysis, including comorbidities and most potential confounders, neuropathic pain was an independent determinant of ∆ BP and nocturnal systolic blood pressure. In summary, we showed a novel association of peripheral diabetic neuropathic pain with nondipping and higher systolic nocturnal blood pressure, which was not entirely explained through pain dependent sleep problems or other pain- or diabetes-related comorbidities, like CAN, OSA and depression.
Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 04.07.2014

Nathaniel F. Watson, MD, MSc Professor of Neurology, University of Washington Co-director, University of Washington Medicine Sleep Center Director, Harborview Medical Center Sleep Clinic Seattle, WashingtonMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nathaniel F. Watson, MD, MSc Professor of Neurology, University of Washington Co-director, University of Washington Medicine Sleep Center Director, Harborview Medical Center Sleep Clinic Seattle, Washington MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Watson: The Singh Index is a composite measure of socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods. We found that as Singh Index increased, sleep duration reduced. This was true in the total sample of twins, and within twin pairs. The fact that we saw this within twin pairs means the association is present after controlling for genetics and shared environment, which substantially strengthens the association.
Aging, Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 03.07.2014

Dr. June Chi-Yan Lo Research Fellow Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School SingaporeMedicalResearch.com: Interview with: Dr. June Chi-Yan Lo Research Fellow Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lo: The Duke-NUS study examined the data of 66 older Chinese adults, from the Singapore-Longitudinal Aging Brain Study. Participants underwent structural MRI brain scans measuring brain volume and neuropsychological assessments testing cognitive function every two years. Additionally, their sleep duration was recorded through a questionnaire. Those who slept fewer hours showed evidence of faster brain aging and decline in cognitive performance.
Author Interviews, Case Western, Sleep Disorders / 18.06.2014

Ronnie Fass, M.D., FACG, Professor of Medicine Case Western Reserve University Director, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Head, Esophageal and Swallowing Center, Metro Health Medical Center Cleveland, OHMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ronnie Fass, M.D., FACG, Professor of Medicine Case Western Reserve University Director, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Head, Esophageal and Swallowing Center, Metro Health Medical Center Cleveland, OH MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Fass: This is the first study to compare the extent of acid reflux between nighttime sleep and daytime naps in patients with Gastroesophageal reflux disease. The results of our study show that naps are associated with significantly greater esophageal acid exposure compared to sleep. Acid reflux events were more frequent and their total duration was longer during naps when compared with acid reflux events during nighttime sleep. Additionally, the fraction of time that the subjects were experiencing acid reflux with pH < 4 was significantly higher during naps than nighttime sleep and subjects experienced more symptoms due to acid reflux during their nap than their sleep.
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