New Study Holds Promise for Decreasing Barriers to Sleep Medicine Instruction, Underdiagnosis of Sleep Disorders

Integrated selective: An innovative teaching strategy for sleep medicine instruction for medical students.

Sleep Med. 2007 Mar; 8(2): 144-8. Bandla H, Franco R, Statza T, Feroah T, Rice TB, Poindexter K, Simpson D

OBJECTIVES: Sleep disorders are common among all age groups, but repeated studies have demonstrated that physicians underdiagnose sleep disorders. Lack of curriculum time and the limited number of faculty with expertise in sleep medicine have been cited as major barriers for sleep medicine instruction. This paper describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an integrated selective in sleep medicine for fourth-year medical students. METHODS: A one-month required fourth-year integrated selective in sleep medicine was implemented at Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). A curriculum was developed, incorporating core competencies of sleep medicine and using a combination of instructional strategies. Three sources of data were used to evaluate the selective: an elective-specific questionnaire, learner ratings, and performance on a pre- and post-knowledge test. RESULTS: Twenty medical students (13 male; 7 female) have completed the selective to date. Lack of exposure to sleep medicine during the first three years of medical school was the most common reason for taking the elective. Student evaluation of the rotation averaged 1.5 on a five-point scale (1=best), above the average for fourth-year rotations. The mean examination scores increased significantly from pre- (56%) to post- (86%) selective (p

(Source: HubMed)

New Radio Podcast Now Available, Guest ASAA's Dave Hargett

(Note: Next week on Let's Talk Sleep Radio, our guest will be

Patrick Sorenson, MA, RPSGT, discussing pediatric sleep studies.)

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For this week's broadcast featuring Dave Hargett, go to www.letstalksleep.com or go to iTunes and subscribe to the "Let's Talk Sleep" podcasts.

Dave Hargett serves as the Chairman of the Board of the American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA), entering his 4th year as Chair. The ASAA is the national non-profit organization that supports those with sleep apnea who need information about the disorder, advocates for them, and works to raise awareness about sleep apnea in the general public, in the workplace, and in the medical profession. The ASAA also fosters the A.W.A.K.E. Network of sleep apnea support groups around the country. See http://www.sleepapnea.org/ for more information about the ASAA.

Mr. Hargett is a sleep apnea patient turned sleep activist and sleep advocate. Diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea at age 45, he found almost immediate relief and effective therapy with a CPAP set at 13 cm of pressure. Today he is retired from a 30-year career with a major national retailer and spends much of his time on several volunteer activities. He lives in a southwest suburb of Chicago.

When he was first diagnosed and attended his first A.W.A.K.E. group meeting, Mr. Hargett said he had no idea that he would become so involved with sleep apnea. He leads two A.W.A.K.E. groups in the Chicago suburbs that meet monthly, speaks directly with patients on the phone and answers emails for the ASAA.

He also speaks about sleep apnea to church groups, service organizations, corporate employees, other A.W.A.K.E. groups, and wherever else he can find someone to listen! At the 1996 "Great American Sleep Walk" in Washington, DC, he represented all sleep apnea patients when he spoke at the rally on Capitol Hill.

Let's Talk Sleep "Abstract Listing Pick of the Week"-- Presiposing factors of restless legs syndrome in pregnancy

I found this paper especially interesting because it correlates to the conversation I had witn Dr. Meir Kryger on the Let's Talk Sleep Radio program that aired earlier this week. Dr. Kryger discussed various aspects of sleep in women, and spoke about RLS during pregnancy. You can hear the podcast at no charge on iTunes or at www.letstalksleep.com , and you do not need an iPod to listen. (One listener from Israel I was talking with the other day said he downloads the MP3 files onto CD and listens in his car to and from work).


Predisposing factors of restless legs syndrome in pregnancy.
Mov Disord. 2007 Feb 6; Tunç T, Karadağ YS, Doğulu F, Inan LE

The occurrence of restless legs syndrome in pregnancy is well known. However, the mechanism of this association is unclear. In this study, we aimed to identify the factors that predispose women to have restless legs syndrome during pregnancy. A total of 146 pregnant women were included in the study. Patients were asked questions regarding demographic characteristics, complications of pregnancy, medical therapy (vitamin and iron intake), sleep disorders, muscle cramps, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Electroneurography, routine blood biochemistry tests, complete blood count, and thyroid function tests were performed and vitamin B12, folic acid, serum iron, iron-binding capacity, ferritin, iron saturation, prolactin, estradiol, and progesterone were measured. Of the participants, 38 were diagnosed as having restless legs syndrome. In women with restless legs syndrome, additional medical problems, night cramps, and excessive daytime sleepiness were more frequent. In women without restless legs syndrome, serum hemoglobin levels were significantly higher and the use of supplemental iron or vitamins was greater. Among the women with restless legs syndrome, progesterone levels were slightly higher but this difference was not statistically significant. In summary, in this study, lower hemoglobin levels and supplementation deficits of iron and vitamins were found be the risk factors for restless legs syndrome in pregnancy.

For the full text, contact the journal publisher directly.

Have a great weekend!

Theresa

Public Meetings of the NIH Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board

This resource provides the opportunity to view video coverage of recent and archived National Institutes of Health (NIH) Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board Meetings. You can check back at the link provided to view coverage of recent and archived meetings. The public meetings are held several times per year, and the last one listed in the archive section of the NIH Web site at this writing is from December 2006.


Wednesday, December 06, 2006
National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, NHLBI
Total Running Time: 05:46:49

Board Member Listing
Department of Health and Human Services
NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board

For further information, contact the NIH directly:

Center for Information TechnologyNational Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
local (301) 496-4357
toll free (866) 319-4357
TDD (301) 496 8294

Is Yours the "Best Sleep Facility?"

I was talking to Mike Bederka , senior associate editor from ADVANCE Newsmagazines' Advance for Sleep.com yesterday, and he was telling me that the deadline is March 6, 2007 for the Advance Fifth Annual Best Sleep Facility of the Year Competition. Candidates may fill out a form on the publication's Web site where prize information may also be found. Entry requirements include participants explaining how their sleep facility excels by answering 10 questions.

Nominees will be judged solely on how well they meet these criteria — not on the writing ability of the person who submits the entry. Winners in the past have written at least a few paragraphs for each question and provided multiple examples to illustrate their points.

Good luck to all contestants!

Be well, Sleep well,
Theresa

Upcoming Sleep Symposia

For additional conference information, see left side of this blog, "Sleep Symposia Calendar," and click on the hyperlinks.

Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea & Snoring 2007, Orlando, FL, USA, Feb. 16-18
KSS 2007, Bowling Green, KY, USA, May 31-June 1
SSS 2007, Charleston, SC, USA, Mar. 1-4
SESW RAPT 2007, Virginia Beach, VA, USA, May 3-7
ATS 2007, San Francisco, CA, USA, May 20-22
ESRS 2008, Glasgow, Scotland, 2008
FOCUS 2007, Nashville, TN, USA, April 19-20
PNSA Biennial Meeting 2007, Stevenson, WA, USA, Mar. 9-11
Sleep 2007 (APSS), Minneapolis, MN, USA, Jun 9-14
worldsleep07, Carins, QLD, Australia, Sept. 2-6
Current Concepts in Sleep 2007, Tampa, FL, USA, Aug. 31-Sept. 1

If you have a meeting to list, send meeting name, location, dates, Web site and all contact information to: sleepsymposia@yahoo.com

World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) Report

Neurologist Steve Poceta, MD reports on his blog from the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) Second International Congress on Sleep Medicine in Bangkok, Thailand, where Sleep Community physicians and researchers have gathered to compare stategies for evaluating and treating sleep disorders.

This is an excerpt from the report where Dr. Poceta said of a restless legs syndrome (RLS) paper presented there,

"Because of slow internet, I'll keep this posting short...An interesting paper from Europe comparted cabergoline, a long acting dopamine agonist, to L-DOPA in the treatment of restless legs syndrome. Both were equal in reducing the symptoms RLS, but the patients taking 2 to 3 mg of cabergoline had better long term results. They were less likely to drop out and less likely to develop augmentation and rebound.

In the US, cabergoline is licensed only to treat pituatary disorders, but it is related to Requip and Mirapex in its chemical action. It could be an option for a small number of RLS sufferrers."


I'll personally be looking forward to the materials that come out of this conference because it has traditionally showcased some very promising findings for sleep patients.


Here are members of the WASM Board of Directors:

President: Markku Partinen, Helsinki, Finland

President-Elect: Sudhansu Chokroverty, Edison, New Jersey, US

Secretary: Richard Allen, Baltimore, Maryland, US

Treasurer: Claudia Trenkwalder, Kassel, Germany

Assistant Secretary: Patrick Levy, Grenoble, France

Assistant Treasurer: Karin Stiasny-Kolster, Marburg, Germany

Members at Large

At-Large Africa: Allison Bentley, South Africa

At-Large Asia: Nana Tachibana, Kyoto, Japan; and Naiphinich Kotchabhakdi, Salaya, Thailand

At-Large Australia/Oceania: John Swieca, Australia

At-Large Europe: Claudio Bassetti, Zurich, Switzerland; and Luigi Ferini-Strambi, Milan, Italy

At-Large South America: Sergio Tufik, Sao Paolo, Brasil

At-Large USA: Max Hirshkowitz, Houston, Texas; and Wayne Hening, New York City, New York



Be well, Sleep well,
Theresa

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Don't you just love hearing this song? The characters on this video are fun, so I thought I'd post it in case you have a pediatric patient in your sleep lab tonight. Look over on the left side of this blog page -- I have some sleep-related activities listed for children, or for the kid in all of us :-)

Meir Kryger, MD "Women and Sleep" & Richard Gelula "GASC" Shows Now Available

To hear our latest radio shows (Oh my gosh, Dr. Kryger was so interesting and talked about women and sleep issues, and Richard Gelula has me all jazzed up about taking the sleep challenge!) on Let's Talk Sleep, go to www.letstalksleep.com

Or, hear the podcast on iTunes http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

...YOU DO NOT NEED AN iPOD to use iTunes - You can listen to iTunes on your computer, and one sleep tech says that last week she listened to the show while she was scoring records.

After free iTunes 7 download, go to the podcast section of the iTunes Store and search "Let's Talk Sleep"

Have a great week!
Theresa

Carpe diem, take THE CHALLENGE, and sieze... the night

Friends,

If you've been following all the news about the NSF's Great American Sleep Challenge (GASC), you know it's time to take that challenge to get better sleep. Go to www.sleepfoundation.org/challenge

Be well, Sleep Well, ....and go seize the night with the GASC!
Theresa