The AASM recently released a position statement on the use of medical cannabis for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. (1) It states: “It is the position of the AASM: That medical cannabis and/or its synthetic extracts should not be used for the treatment of OSA due to unreliable delivery methods and insufficient evidence of treatment effectiveness, tolerability, and safety, and OSA should be excluded from the list of chronic medical conditions for state medical cannabis programs.” (p. 680)
Manic behavior is associated with psychomotor activity coupled with insufficient sleep relative to the amount typically required for functional alertness. In severe cases, episodes of sleeplessness may occur with no subjective complaint of tiredness. Choreomanic episodes, also known as “dance frenzies” or irresistible dance attacks, are considered by many medical historians as presentations of mania.
This is part one in a six-part series on the evolution of the sleep technologist role. AAST has engaged professionals from across allied healthcare to address, from their perspective, the value of collaborating more closely with sleep technologists and/or incorporating the discipline into their area of health. The face of healthcare is changing. And right along with it, the face of sleep technology is changing as well, driven in part by such trends as a movement toward patient-centered, integrated and accountable care, ambulatory sleep testing, and telemedicine. Add to this a new layer to patient adherence and advancements in monitoring that include the ability to determine adherence to oral appliance therapy, new implantable devices, and a new focus on the importance of sleep, and what you have are dramatic shifts that are impacting us all.
At AAST’s 39th Annual Meeting, Julie DeWitte provided an excellent lecture on capnography. She reviewed how the two main methods work (end-tidal and transcutaneous technologies), when they should be used and what it means when there are discrepancies between the two methods. She presented several illustrative cases for discussion. Unfortunately, due to a severe case of laryngitis, she didn’t really present the talk. Joel Porquez did an admirable job of filling in for Julie, but we didn’t have the opportunity to hear it directly from her. Now, thanks to the magic of a recording studio and some video editing, the lecture is available at the AAST website.
While You Were Sleeping: What Sleep Technologists Need to Know This Week Your media watchdog for headlines and trends relevant to sleep technology and patient education.
Have you circled September 28-30 on your calendar yet? If not, you will want to make arrangements to be in Indianapolis for the AAST Annual Meeting, as we host the only event dedicated solely to sleep technologists.
While You Were Sleeping: What Sleep Technologists Need to Know This Week Your media watchdog for headlines and trends relevant to sleep technology and patient education.
Despite all this talk of “adherence” or “compliance,” few PAP users or technologists know the precise definition. This can be problematic not only in analyzing the effectiveness of therapy, but also in getting insurance to resupply the patient. For the sake of this article, we will use the more accepted term “adherence” interchangeably with the term “compliance.”
Attention sleep technologists: Your role in the sleep center is about to expand. Market dynamics that are creating new pressures to respond to changes in the delivery in sleep medicine today are twofold.
There continues to be a misconception between credentialing and certificate programs, and the proper way to display professional credentials, even within the sleep profession. Do you know the difference? .
