Sleep Disorders

Experts favor US approval of Merck sleeping pill (Update)

An independent panel of experts on Wednesday recommended US approval of a new Merck sleeping pill called suvorexant, but expressed concerns over the highest dosage and risks of drowsy daytime driving.

Medications created 14 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Better behavior after tonsil/adenoid surgery for kids with sleep breathing trouble?

Children with obstructive sleep apnea who had a common surgery to remove their tonsils and adenoids showed notable improvements in behavior, quality of life and other symptoms compared to those treated with "watchful waiting" ...

Sleep apnea created May 21, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Study finds that sleep apnea and Alzheimer's are linked

A new study looking at sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and markers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging adds to the growing body of research linking the two.

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created May 19, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Stress test may help predict increased mortality risk in sleep apnea patients

Many studies have shown that men and women who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) - a disorder that causes breathing to halt intermittently during sleep – have a higher mortality rate than those who do not have the ...

Sleep apnea created May 20, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

It's not just what you eat, but when you eat it

Fat cells store excess energy and signal these levels to the brain. In a new study this week in Nature Medicine, Georgios Paschos PhD, a research associate in the lab of Garret FitzGerald, MD, FRS direct ...

Medical research created Nov 11, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Unusual comparison nets new sleep loss marker

(Medical Xpress)—For years, Paul Shaw, PhD, a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has used what he learns in fruit flies to look for markers of sleep loss in humans.

Medical research created May 03, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Interrupted sleep impairs memory in mice

With the novel use of a technique that uses light to control brain cells, Stanford University researchers have shown that fragmented sleep causes memory impairment in mice.

Sleep apnea created Jul 25, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Losing sleep? Scientists evaluate why

The issue of sleep deprivation has gone beyond the counting of sheep and into the scientific domain, as European researchers set up 'sleep labs' to study the biomedical and sociological factors keeping us ...

Health created May 03, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Sleep loss precedes Alzheimer's symptoms

Sleep is disrupted in people who likely have early Alzheimer's disease but do not yet have the memory loss or other cognitive problems characteristic of full-blown disease, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Mar 11, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Poor sleep may age your brain

(HealthDay) -- Evidence is building that poor sleep patterns may do more than make you cranky: The amount and quality of shuteye you get could be linked to mental deterioration and Alzheimer's disease, four ...

Health created Jul 16, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (12) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

If you are impulsive, take modafinil and count to 10

Poor impulse control contributes to one's inability to control the consumption of rewarding substances, like food, alcohol, and other drugs. This can lead to the development of addiction. FDA-approved medications for alcoholism, ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Feb 01, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Study of fruit fly sleep reveals a genetic basis of insomnia

(Medical Xpress) -- On the surface, it’s simple: when night falls, our bodies get sleepy. But behind the scenes, a series of complex molecular events, controlled by our genes, is hard at work to make ...

Neuroscience created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Swine flu vaccine linked to child narcolepsy: EU watchdog

A swine flu vaccine used in 2009-10 is linked to a higher risk of the sleeping disorder narcolepsy in children and teens in Sweden and Finland, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Friday.

Medications created Sep 21, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Sleepwalking more prevalent among US adults than previously suspected

What goes bump in the night? In many U.S. households: people. That's according to new Stanford University School of Medicine research, which found that about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults are prone to sleepwalking. The work ...

Neuroscience created May 14, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Orphan' sleep drug may be potent cancer-fighting agent

An inexpensive "orphan drug" used to treat sleep disorders appears to be a potent inhibitor of cancer cells, according to a new study led by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Their novel approach, using ...

Cancer created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 3 | with audio podcast


A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning. Polysomnography is a test commonly ordered for some sleep disorders.

Disruptions in sleep can be caused by a variety of issues, from teeth grinding (bruxism) to night terrors. When a person suffers from difficulty in sleeping with no obvious cause, it is referred to as insomnia. In addition, sleep disorders may also cause sufferers to sleep excessively, a condition known as hypersomnia. Management of sleep disturbances that are secondary to mental, medical, or substance abuse disorders should focus on the underlying conditions.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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