At the Sleep 2014 scientific conference in Minneapolis earlier this month, Patrick J. Strollo, Jr., MD from the University of Pittsburgh and colleagues presented 18-month outcomes from the STAR trial of Upper Airway Stimulation for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.  STAR Trial results at 12 months have been published in January 2014 in the New… Read more »

Many colleagues and individuals have thanked me for developing my sleep-doctor.com main website and blog.  To be honest, it has required hundreds of hours of time for this amateur website developer.  All the same, it helps my patients and has allowed me to share information about snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.  I recognize that the… Read more »

A recent story on NPR News reported that half of all patients win their appeal of denials by health insurance companies.  They told the story of a patient with sleepiness and loud snoring who saw a doctor that recommended a sleep study.  The insurance company denied authorization for the sleep study.  The patient filed an… Read more »

Here is an interesting study of direct personal relevance, given the recent birth of my daughter.   Numerous studies have demonstrated important benefits of breastfeeding for infants and mothers, but a study in the March 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine has added one to the list.  Some of my former colleagues… Read more »

In the current era of health care reform, there has been a nationwide push to define and enhance the quality of health care.  To be clear, it is difficult, if not impossible, to define fully the concept of “quality” in health care.  While automobile manufacturing may characterize quality by acceleration, driving performance, need for repairs,… Read more »

After a successful start to the course, Day 2 began with Allan Pack, MBChB, PhD of the University of Pennsylvania.  Allan had given the final talk of Day 1, in which he delivered a thought-provoking lecture on the future of the field of sleep medicine.  He has campaigned for a shift for the field, like… Read more »

Another year has come and gone, and our 20th annual Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course started today in San Francisco.  As a Co-Director, it is exciting to have close to 200 attendees again, a testament to the recognition of the importance of sleep apnea and snoring as well as… Read more »

The start of a new year is a time to reassess and undertake new directions.  The current era of explosive growth in scientific and medical knowledge has included an improved understanding of sleep and its importance to health.  The past few years has seen research showing a connection between poor sleep (not limited to sleep… Read more »

Let’s be clear.  My golf game is best defined as erratic.  On those couple of times a year when I get a chance to play, golf is the part of my life where I take the most risks.  Since I am not good enough to get my score down to the 70s or low 80s,… Read more »

The natural tendency when treating patients with obstructive sleep apnea is to overlook other sleep disorders that can contribute to symptoms like daytime sleepiness and fatigue.  Insomnia is technically the most common sleep disorder, although in reality the term “insomnia” refers to a group of sleep issues.  Recent studies have examined the differences between subtypes… Read more »