July 2012

 

Microsite Provides a Window on AARC Congress 2012 Venue

The AARC will head to New Orleans this Nov. 10–13 for AARC Congress 2012, but you can take a tour of the city right now through our new microsite, set up especially for the Association by the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau. VISIT SITE

CPAP May Ease Depressive Symptoms Too

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic find CPAP may help patients with more than their obstructive sleep apnea. In their study, patients who used the device successfully—or even unsuccessfully—improved their depression scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire 9. The research was conducted among 709 patients who filled out the questionnaires at their doctor’s offices or their homes between 2008 and 2011. The 654 patients who used their CPAP for four hours or more per night experienced an average reduction of 3.8 points in their score while the 115 who used the device for less than four hours per night saw a 2 point reduction. Married patients scored significantly better than single or divorced patients, with drops of 4, 3, and 2.3, respectively. Patients who had previously reported daytime sleepiness and adhered to their CPAP therapy also did better, with 4 point reductions vs. 2.8 point reductions for those who reported daytime sleepiness but weren’t adherent with the therapy. The study was presented at the recent Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting. READ ARTICLE

PCOS, Sleep Apnea Raise Prediabetes Risk

University of Chicago investigators who studied obese women who did or did not have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and sleep apnea find women with both conditions are more likely to have signs of prediabetes. The study compared 121 women with the common female hormonal disorder to 50 without the condition. Sleep apnea was more prevalent in the women with PCOS than the women without, 48% vs.36%, and was also more severe. Forty-four percent of the PCOS women were diagnosed with prediabetes compared to 22% of the controls, and the greater the severity of obstructive sleep apnea, the higher their two-hour blood sugar values were on the glucose tolerance test. High blood sugar values were also linked to lower levels of the female hormone progesterone, leading the authors to speculate that insufficient progesterone may also contribute to obstructive sleep apnea. The results found no association between high testosterone levels and either sleep apnea or abnormal glucose tolerance. The study was presented at the American Thoracic Society meeting in June. READ PRESS RELEASE

Sleep Apnea: Worse in Winter?

A new study out of Brazil suggests OSA may be influenced by the seasons of the year. Specifically, researchers found a higher median apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) for patients undergoing polysomnography during the winter months vs. the summer months. The study reviewed test results on 7523 men and women who were assessed via an in-lab study between January 2000 and December 2009. Climate and air pollution information was collected from official organizations. Even after adjusting the findings for gender, age, body mass index, neck circumference, and relative air humidity, the median AHI in the six months of cold weather was 17.8, compared to 15.0 for the six months of warmer weather. “This finding suggests that OSA severity may be associated with other seasonal epidemiological phenomena,” write the authors. The study was published ahead of print in CHEST on June 14. READ ABSTRACT

MSLT Results Predicted by Daytime Continuous Polysomnography in Hypersomnias of Central Origin

Italian investigators working with researchers from Stanford University compared daytime polysomnography (PSG) to the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) in 98 consecutive patients with excessive daytime sleepiness and a final diagnosis of: 1) narcolepsy with cataplexy/hypocretin deficiency, 2) narcolepsy without cataplexy, 3) idiopathic hypersomnia without long sleep time, and 4) “hypersomnia” with normal sleep latency at MSLT. Results showed:

• Daytime sleep time was significantly higher in narcolepsy-cataplexy patients but similar in those in the other groups.
• Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves showed that the number of naps during daytime PSG predicted a mean sleep latency ≤8 min at MSLT, with an area under the curve of 0.67 ± 0.05.
• The number of daytime sleep-onset REM periods (SOREMPs) in spontaneous naps strikingly predicted the scheduled occurrence of two or more SOREMPs at MSLT, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.93 ± 0.03.
• One spontaneous SOREMP during the daytime had a sensitivity of 96%, with specificity of 74%, whereas two SOREMPs had a sensitivity of 75%, with a specificity of 95%, for a pathological REM sleep propensity at MSLT.

The authors conclude, “The features of spontaneous daytime sleep well correlated with MSLT findings. Notably, the occurrence of multiple spontaneous SOREMPs during daytime clearly identified patients with narcolepsy, as well as during the MSLT.” The study was published ahead of print by the Journal of Sleep Research on June 20. READ ABSTRACT