Sleep Medicine News

Almost 50% of female veterans were taking higher than recommended doses of zolpidem, despite drug safety warnings from the FDA and the Veterans Health Administration recommending against high doses, according to findings recently published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Between 2006 and 2013, the prevalence rate of benzodiazepine dispensation among youth aged 24 years and younger increased by 22% in Sweden, data published in PLOS Medicine revealed.

A study published by the New Jersey chapter of the AAP demonstrates that infants born to either U.S.- or foreign-born Asian Indian mothers in New Jersey have low rates of sudden unexpected infant death. Although bedsharing is a prominent practice in this community, researchers observed several sleep and demographic characteristics that may lessen rates of infant mortality.

Many older adults have a high risk for obstructive sleep apnea; however, evaluations for the condition are seldom performed, according to research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Individuals who sleep less than 6 hours and more than 10 hours per day may have an increased risk for metabolic syndrome, according to research published in BMC Public Health.

Children and their parents who sleep in a hospital setting are exposed to noise levels that that surpass WHO’s recommended noise levels in Europe. This exposure, according to researchers, significantly reduces the amount and quality of sleep patients and their family receive.

Analysis revealed that both poor sleep quality and depressive problems correlated to functional connectivities involving the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the cingulate cortex and the precuneus in the brain.

Older men who napped for 120 minutes or more per day were significantly more likely to develop dementia than those who napped for shorter durations, according to a presentation at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

Daytime light — when carefully delivered and tailored to individual patients’ eyes and monitored with a calibrated instrument — can improve sleep, mood and agitation in nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, data presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference revealed.

Non-benzodiazepine hypnotic “Z-drugs,” such as zolpidem, zopiclone and zaleplon, which are often prescribed to help treat insomnia in older adults, were linked to a 40% greater risk for fracture in this population, according to data presented at the 2018 Alzheimer's Association International Conference.