Sleep Medicine News

PHILADELPHIA — Within the past year, the FDA has approved three important new drugs for the treatment of common conditions that internists should be aware of, according to a presentation at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.

PHILADELPHIA — While obstructive sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed, known risk factors, symptoms and assessment tools can help primary care physicians identify the disease, according to a presentation at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.

Older patients with obstructive sleep apnea who used continuous positive airway pressure therapy for at least 4 hours nightly for 1 year had improved cognitive function, according to findings recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

B-cell depletion using multiple infusions of Rituxan demonstrated no clinical benefit for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, according to data published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea who were excessively sleepy were at higher risk for heart failure, according to findings recently published in the American Journal of Respiratory Care Medicine.

NEW ORLEANS — Eating later in the evening was tied to patients going to bed later and with having a greater BMI and fat mass, according to data presented at the Endocrine Society Annual Meeting.

The FDA approved the first and only dual-acting dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, Sunosi, to treat excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea, according to a press release issued by the drug’s manufacturer.

Sleeping in during weekends to “catch up” on missed sleep during the week will not prevent weight gain or improve a reduction insulin sensitivity associated with sleeping less than 5 hours per night, according to findings from a small cohort study published in Current Biology.

Although children with and without atopic dermatitis receive a comparable amount of sleep, children with the condition are more likely to have a reduced quality of sleep, regardless of the severity of disease.

Witnessed sleep apneas were significantly associated with tau in a part of the brain that helps with memory, according to findings that will be presented at the upcoming American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.