SLEEP: American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society (APSS) Annual Meeting

In this interview with The American Journal of Managed Care®, Symielle A. Gaston, PhD, MPH, of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health, explores the relationship between sleep health and outcomes disparities among patients of various races and ethnicities.

Panelists at SLEEP 2023 presented preliminary data on how sleep interventions could close the gap in treating Black children and families in sleep health.

Posters presented at the SLEEP 2023 conference showed that transition between medications was easy but 1 medication felt more effective to patients.

Targeting insomnia with cognitive behavior therapy is almost like a frontline therapy, because by doing so, you’re able to improve a whole host of other symptoms that would coexist with insomnia, explained Sheila Garland, PhD, MSc, Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada.

A panel at SLEEP 2023 discussed the ways that long COVID-19 has affected numerous areas of sleep health.

Research is finding that there is an intricate connection between sleep and inflammation, such that lack of sleep can increase inflammation, noted Andrew McHill, PhD, an assistant professor at Oregon Health and Science University.

Dayna Johnson, PhD, MPH, MSW, MS, the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, discusses principal findings from the analysis of a 35-day sleep intervention study that utilized a mobile mindfulness app to manage stress and anxiety combined with healthy sleep practices.

Posters presented at SLEEP 2023 estimated the prevalence of idiopathic hypersomnia as well as incidence of comorbidities.

Presenters at SLEEP 2023 revealed research that linked childhood sleep patterns to weight in young children.

It’s important to consider the social context, the social ecology, and the family environment when investigating behavioral sleep problems among children and adults, noted Arielle Williamson, PhD, DBSM, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Judite Blanc, PhD, is lead author on the abstract, “Social Determinants of Sleep Disorders Among Multiethnic Americans in the NIH All of Us Research Program,” which was presented today at SLEEP 2023.

The SLEEP 2023 conference will be held in Indianapolis from June 3 to June 7 and promises to feature topics including sleep health disparities, hypersomnia, geriatric medicine, and new technologies.

In this preview interview for SLEEP 2023, Rebecca Spencer, PhD, chair of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies Program Committee, highlights how bringing patients and clinicians together can inspire new ideas in sleep medicine.

Personalizing treatment for narcolepsy requires shared decision-making between patients and clinicians to understand the most important symptoms that need to be treated and the right therapy, said Michael Thorpy, MD, director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center and professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Many socioeconomic factors, such as neighborhood factors, access to care, and education can influence sleep, explained Cinthya Pena Orbea, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Cleveland Clinic.

Once-nightly sodium oxybate was associated with a statistically significant reduction in cataplexy episodes among patients with narcolepsy, explained Michael Thorpy, MD, director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center and professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

A panel of providers and patients with narcolepsy who are parents shared the struggles and possible support tools that neurologists and other providers should be aware of when caring for patients with narcolepsy who are pregnant or postpartum.

During her presentation at SLEEP 2022, Isabelle Arnulf, MD, PhD, a neurologist and professor, detailed the long list of challenges for understanding different aspects of idiopathic hypersomnia and called for more attention to be devoted to future research.

While consumer wearables for sleep are popular, evidence-based guidelines need to be established to interpret data coming from these technologies, said Sean Drummond, PhD, professor of clinical neuroscience, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at Monash University.

Presenters from SLEEP 2022 contextualized some of the recent research showing the impact of sleep disorders on aspects of mental health, including depressive symptoms and suicide.

Michael Johnson, CEO of Rhinomed, expands on the findings of the 2022 Annual Global Sleep and Snoring Report conducted in February 2022, which found that people are not getting nearly as much sleep as they should.

Behavioral and physiological components of type 1 diabetes and its management can contribute to worsened sleep and health outcomes, which can vary by age, according to Stacey Simon, PhD, sleep psychologist and associate professor, University of Colorado Denver, Children's Hospital Colorado.

Susan Redline, MD, MPH, the SLEEP 2022 meeting keynote speaker, catalogued the evidence proving that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) does improve health outcomes—refuting a recent controversial report that claims otherwise.

Opioids have been used for hundreds of years to treat restless leg syndrome (RLS), but there is currently a registry to understand the long-term effectiveness of opioids to treat RLS , said John Winkelman, MD, PhD, medical director, sleep disorders clinical research program, Massachusetts General Hospital.

A panel of experts at the SLEEP 2022 conference argued against considering race a risk factor for health complications and disrupted sleep, saying that being on the receiving end of racial discrimination is the true risk factor.

Posters from the SLEEP 2022 conference revealed some of the interaction between idiopathic hypersomnia and different aspects of life, including weight changes and interpersonal relationships.

Susan Redline, MD, MPH, professor of sleep medicine and epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, gives a preview of her SLEEP 2022 keynote and discusses her 30 years of sleep epidemiology advocacy.

From discussions on policies of time change to the neurobiology of narcolepsy, sessions at the SLEEP 2022 conference taking place June 4-8 will span a broad range of topics.

Michael Thorpy, MD, director, Sleep-Wake Disorders Center, Montefiore Medical Center, and professor of neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, speaks on the efficacy of solriamfetol observed in patients with excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy, and which patient groups may best benefit from this therapy.

A roundup of technology-related research presented at SLEEP 2021.