Secondary Insomnia and the Drugs Used To Treat It

Secondary Insomnia and the Drugs Used To Treat It
I previously posted about the diagnosis of insomnia, the difference between primary and secondary/comorbid insomnia, and the importance of evaluating for and treating any underlying causes of insomnia. I encourage you to read my Secondary Insomnia post before reading any more of this post. Today I will be talking more about medication treatment options for secondary (comorbid) insomnia. Although persons with primary insomnia (insomnia not...

Relieving Those Restless Legs
Let’s continue talking about restless legs syndrome (RLS).   We reviewed some of the symptoms, causes, and adverse effects of restless legs syndrome in the past two blogs, now let’s talk about how RLS is diagnosed.  Due to the unusual sensations that patients with RLS complain of, it is sometimes difficult for a healthcare provider to determine if these complaints are actually related to RLS.  Contrary to popular...

Do Children Understand How Feelings Affect School Performance?
Most of us know that the way we feel emotionally and physically can influence how we do on tests. That's why we're told to get lots of rest and eat a good breakfast before taking a big exam. And previous studies have found that people do worse on tests and solving problems when they're tired, hungry, or upset.

Using Wakefulness Tests To Detect Daytime Sleepiness In Drivers May Be Unreliable, Study Finds
A study in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that a 40 minute protocol for the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT40) is superior to a 20-minute protocol (MWT20) at detecting excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in adults who may be unable to maintain wakefulness while driving.

S.A.D. and Circadian Rhythms
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”   - Anne Bradstreet, British poet   It’s that time of the year again.  Especially for those of us not fortunate enough to live in warmer climes- the winter is coming.  As we all know, along with the season comes shorter days and longer nights.  Some of us may...

Diagnosing Restless Leg Syndrome
You’ve all seen the ads.  You might have even heard about the charges of “disease mongering” that have been bandied about, specifically about this disorder.  We are going to start covering the topic of restless legs syndrome (RLS).  (By the way, disease mongering is when someone with a financial interest in a disease, like a pharmaceutical company with an effective medicine, publicizes a disorder with the sole...

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Severity And Daytime Functional Impairments Confounded By Short Sleep Duration
A study in the Feb. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP shows that daytime functional impairments in older men with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are largely explained by total sleep time rather than OSA severity. A modest link between OSA severity and daytime sleepiness, measured by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, was no longer statistically significant after controlling for total sleep time.