Talking Sleep

The AASM’s inaugural Change Agents competition brought together teams from all areas of sleep medicine to think about innovative and creative ways to reimagine the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. In today’s episode, we talk to the leader of the winning team, Dr. Amy Bender, about the proposal, “Let’s Put the Sleep Back into Sleep Medicine,” which recommends measuring sleep depth to predict CPAP adherence and offer more personalized sleep apnea treatment.

With increased use of telemedicine, how reliable are video evaluations for obstructive sleep apnea? Today’s guest, Dr. Michael Yurcheshen, recently published a study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine comparing telemedicine to in-person assessments for sleep-disordered breathing. He discusses his findings, shares tips on how to conduct the best video exam and explores how telemedicine can be leveraged in the future.

In this episode, we review the recently released AASM clinical practice guideline for treatment of central disorders of hypersomnolence. We talk with Dr. Kiran Maski, chair of the AASM task force that developed the guideline, about the data-driven treatment recommendations as well as future research directions, the challenges of diagnosing hypersomnias, and the potential of sleep biomarkers.

Sleep medicine is a diverse profession, and the AASM strives to be representative and inclusive of all backgrounds and perspectives. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Andrew Spector, chair of the AASM’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, about the Academy’s efforts to identify and eliminate barriers to inclusion, support initiatives for better diversity, and work to reduce health care disparities.