February 2009

Winter Bulletin Online Now
The Winter issue of our section Bulletin is online now, with an article on home sleep testing, an update on section activities, and a profile of our 2008 Specialty Practitioner of the Year. Go to the SECTION WEB SITE and click on “Bulletins” to read the issue.

National Sleep Awareness Week Coming Up March 1-8
When the nation transitions to Daylight Saving Time this March, people all over the country will once again be thinking about that lost hour of sleep. As it has for several years now, the National Sleep Foundation will be sponsoring National Sleep Awareness Week to correspond with this attention on sleep, and the AARC urges members of the Sleep Section to get involved by educating their communities about sleep and the role RTs play in sleep diagnosis and treatment. Learn more about the week HERE, and then plan to share your activities with your fellow section members by E-MAILING a summary and some photos to Section Chair Karen Allen.

Bilevel Therapy Beats CPAP for Heart Failure Patients with Sleep Apnea
A new study out of Johns Hopkins suggests bilevel positive airway pressure is a more effective treatment for patients with sleep apnea and heart failure than CPAP. The study was conducted among 24 patients who were randomly assigned to one of the therapies and then followed for three months. The two treatments resulted in similar improvements in the apnea-hypopnea index, but the bilevel therapy was more effective in improving the ejection fraction; these patients saw a mean increase of 8.5% while CPAP patients saw no significant change. The authors aren’t sure why bilevel therapy performed better, but speculate it may prevent a reduction in stroke volume or may be better at unloading the respiratory muscles and improving the work of breathing. Conversely, CPAP may have a negative effect on stroke volume in patients with low filling pressures. The study was published in the December issue of CHEST. READ ARTICLE

Compression Devices Offer Relief from RLS
Drug therapy can help people with restless leg syndrome (RLS), but not everyone will respond to the treatment. In addition, some patients suffer unwanted side effects from these drugs or cannot take them due to drug-drug interactions. Researchers from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center may have a good alternative: compression devices. They compared outcomes among 35 RLS patients who were randomly assigned to wear either an active compression device or a sham device for at least an hour a day during times when RLS symptoms were expected. All outcomes were significantly better in the active device group, and for about a third of those patients, RLS symptoms were completely resolved. The investigators published their findings in the January issue of CHEST. READ ARTICLE

Could Sleep Arousals be Behind CSA?
CPAP is known to reduce sleep disruption and improve sleep quality in people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). But while the therapy significantly decreases the apnea-hypopnea index in people with central sleep apnea (CSA), it appears to have no effect on sleep arousals or sleep quality. That’s the take home message from Toronto General Hospital researchers who compared results for 205 heart failure patients on optimal medical therapy with or without CPAP. The authors believe instead of being a defensive mechanism, as they are in OSA, sleep arousals may actually be a cause of CSA. They call for more study to find out if preventing these arousals could improve treatment for the condition. The study appeared in the January 1 edition of SLEEP. READ ARTICLE

Study Finds Genetic Link Between Diabetes and Sleep
A multinational team of scientists has uncovered a mutation near a gene involved in controlling melatonin that they believe might provide a genetic link between diabetes and sleep. Specifically, the mutation, rs1387153, near the MTNR1B gene, was associated with an increase in average blood sugar levels and about a 20% increased risk for diabetes. The researchers believe an abnormality that affects melatonin levels, which are normally low during the day and higher at night, might also be disturbing insulin levels, which are higher during the day and lower at night. They identified the mutation and its link to diabetes in a study involving 2,151 people in France, then confirmed the findings in several other large groups of people in France, Denmark, and Finland. The results were published in the December issue of Nature Genetics. READ PRESS RELEASE

 


 

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