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 »

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 »

In a blog post from September 2012, I described modifications developed by Italian surgeons of the expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty procedure.  This technique of soft palate surgery for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea was designed to reduce the risks and enhance the stability of the procedure.  I have received many e-mails and calls from other… Read more »

My website and this blog provide what I hope is an useful educational resource for my patients and others, but I know that many patients with snoring and obstructive sleep apnea will never reach it.  As such, I have contributed to two online resources that reach larger audiences.  I am a content author for sleep… Read more »

Last week, I participated in the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.  This meeting always includes a number of excellent sessions focused on surgery for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, and this year was no exception.  My favorite session was a discussion of how surgeons might choose from among the… Read more »

Readers of this blog and my website will be familiar with my interest in drug-induced sleep endoscopy as a surgical evaluation technique for patients with snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.  Two of the most common questions I receive when giving lectures around the world are: Does the sedation given to patients worsen their sleep apnea… Read more »

Note: tomorrow I will join the #SleepHealth Twitter chat at 10-11 am PST.  I look forward to the interesting discussion on a wide range of sleep topics. Many medications are evaluated with randomized trials, in which patients with a medical problem are randomized to receive either the medication or a pill that does not contain… Read more »

Readers of this blog should be familiar with my sleep surgery philosophy: individual patients require an individualized approach to selecting procedures and identifying factors that will be associated with results.  Among the predictors of outcomes for palate surgery that have been identified, one of the most important is tonsil size.  Because patients who undergo palate… Read more »