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.

PANDEMIC QUICK LINKS

• Fighting post-viral fatigue
  CBS Albany || October 4, 2020
• COVID-19 infects majority of bad dreams: study
  MDLinx || October 1, 2020
• Pandemic disrupts baby sleep patterns
  Mirage News || October 1, 2020
• EYE ON HEALTH: Sleep apnea patients need to take precautions from COVID-19
  WRCBtv.com || October 1, 2020
• How the Coronavirus Pandemic Can Impact Your Sleep and What You Can Do About It
  Cleveland Clinic || September 30, 2020
• Pandemic Lockdowns Have Students Spending More Time on Their Phones—& Getting Worse Sleep
  Sleep Review || September 30, 2020
• Obstructive sleep apnea linked to poor COVID-19 outcomes
  Healio || September 29, 2020
• Maternal perceptions of sleep problems among children and mothers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic in Israel
  Journal of Sleep Research || September 29, 2020
• Google Trends reveal increases in internet searches for insomnia during the COVID-19 global pandemic
  Physician's Weekly || September 28, 2020
• Assessing Sleep Attributes Among Health Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
  American Journal of Managed Care || September 25, 2020
• Women are having more angry, sad dreams during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with men, study finds
  Yahoo! || September 25, 2020
• The UCL Ventura CPAP device for COVID-19
  The Lancet || September 21, 2020

For the latest information, please check the following resources:

• Updated: Sleep-Related COVID-19 Resources
  AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SLEEP TECHNOLOGISTS 
• Updated: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Daily Roundup October 5, 2020
  U.S. FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION 
• Latest: AMERICAN ACADEMY OF SLEEP MEDICINE 
  • AMA finalizes new CPT code for COVID-19 expenses
  • VIDEO | Presidential Town Hall Forum – COVID-19 and Sleep Medicine
  • Considerations for the practice of sleep medicine during COVID-19
  • COVID-19: FAQs for Sleep Clinicians
  • Summary of CDC recommendations relevant for sleep practices during COVID-19
• The Post-Pandemic Sleep Lab
  YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE  || April 29, 2020
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• World Health Organization Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak

ADVOCACY WATCH

Register now for Hypersomnia Foundation's "The Research Continues"
HYPERSOMNIA FOUNDATION
September 27, 2020

From the webinar invitation: “The COVID-19 pandemic has left many in the hypersomnia community wondering about the status of clinical trials and research studies—how have they been affected by the lockdowns and safety advisories?”

Takeaway: This is a free, interactive 90-minute program that should bring you up-to-date on the central disorders of hypersomnolence. 

CULTURE WATCH

Karen Russell's Novella About Insomnia Epidemic Finds New Resonance In The Era Of COVID-19 (podcast)
WBUR
September 29, 2020

From the show notes: “Author Karen Russell’s novella, Sleep Donation, is eerily timely. …It tells the story of a fatal insomnia epidemic with people dying horrible, slow deaths by sleep deprivation. People are being tested to see if they have the antidote—dreams that can be harvested by the company Slumber Corps to help others sleep. …From testing sites to overwhelmed hospitals, the comparisons to today are curiously similar, but Russell wrote the book in 2014.”

Takeaway: I haven't read this yet, but Russell is a talented author, so I expect this novella to be a good choice for your TBR (to be read) list. It's on mine!

TREND WATCH

“The schedule is crazy”: Sleep science and the impact of online classes
YALE NEWS
October 1, 2020

From the article: “Meir Kryger, a Yale sleep expert and Yale School of Medicine physician, and Suman Baddam, Assistant Professor of Clinical Child Psychiatry, co-instruct the course 'The Mystery of Sleep,' which explores the relationship between sleep and well-being. Disruptions to sleep schedules can negatively impact attention, memory and cognitive awareness. Kryger said that there are a number of students in his class who study remotely and must battle time differences. …'When my class starts, which is 4 o’clock in the afternoon, in Taiwan it’s like 4 o’clock in the morning,' Kryger said. 'And the student is actually there wide awake and alert, participating in the class … They seem to be asking questions when it’s appropriate. Even though the schedule is crazy.'”

Takeaway: This challenge resembles one from pre-pandemic times, that of global remote workers who must attend virtual teleconferences in the middle of the night as part of their "9 to 5" job.

INDUSTRY WATCH

Financial assistance for the sleep field during the wildfire emergency
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF SLEEP MEDICINE
September 25, 2020

From the website: “As wildfires continue to affect the West Coast, the AASM reminds you that financial assistance is available through the AASM Foundation Disaster Relief Fund. AASM members and AASM-accredited member sleep facilities that need assistance in the aftermath of any natural disaster should contact the AASM Foundation at foundation@aasm.org.”

Takeaway: Yes, there are wildfires still burning on the West Coast, and yes, they have a big impact on sleep clinics and labs. 

TECHNOLOGY WATCH

A wearable sleep-tracker designed by an MIT team could give people the power to shape their own dreams
BUSINESS INSIDER
October 1, 2020

From the article: “A team at the MIT Media Lab has created a device that could help people shape the content of their dreams. …Called Dormio, the device consists of a bracelet that tracks sleeping patterns and an app that uses recorded messages to suggest dream topics. …In a recent study, 67% of people that Dormio told to 'think of a tree' then reported dreaming about trees.”

Takeaway: As a reader of science fiction, I find this kinda terrifying. 

PHARMA WATCH

Conduct MSLT While Patient Is on Antidepressants? ‘Look at Other Options’
SLEEP REVIEW
September 28, 2020

From the article: “A Mayo Clinic study reemphasizes that REM suppressing drugs can cause false negatives for people with suspected narcolepsy who are taking a multiple sleep latency test.”

Takeaway: This might be a good time to check your protocols and procedures manual for your lab or clinic to determine what the rule is for running MSLTs on patients who are taking certain kinds of medications, such as SSRIs (for more detailed info, check out "Pharmacological effects on REM" in Sleep Review).  

LEGAL WATCH

Driver sentenced to 21 months in jail for causing fatal wreck after falling asleep at the wheel
9 NEWS
September 29, 2020

From the article: “After Delgado fell asleep, the DA said he crossed the double yellow line and a median, hitting a Ford F-150 head-on.”

Takeaway: The driver pleaded guilty to two counts: careless driving resulting in death, and careless driving resulting in injury.  

BIO:  AAST blog columnist Tamara Sellman RPSGT, CCSH curates the sleep health information clearinghouse, SleepyHeadCENTRAL, where she follows sleep health news headlines daily. She is also an independent sleep health journalist, writes sleep-related columns for chronic illness patient advocacy publishers, and contributes the Journal Club continued education presentations for the AAST. You might occasionally see her work in A2Zzz as well. She can be reached at sleepyheadcentral@gmail.com.