Blog List – Classic

California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA PASADENA, CA – Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, Calif, have found that serotonin is necessary for sleep in two key animal models. An article on the Caltech web site details work by David Prober and Viviana Gradinaru (published in the Journal Neuron) that clears up some previous debate about the role of serotonin in sleep; Specifically, does serotonin promote sleep or wakefulness? “To settle this ...Read More

ORLANDO, FL – The actual National Football League (NFL) Pro Bowl game is famously uncompetitive. Instead of scoring touchdowns, the main goal among players is largely to stay uninjured.   Retired players who arrive for related festivities are also focusing on their health, but unlike their active gridiron colleagues, they face a variety of ailments. Thanks to the Pro Player Health Alliance (PPHA), an arm of the American Sleep & Breathing Academy (ASBA), retired players have a convenient oppo...Read More

In an attempt to turn their stores into “health service hubs,” the two largest pharmacy chains in the U.S. (Walgreens and CVS) are remodeling stores to resemble doctors’ offices. According to an Associated Press article by M. Spencer Green, CVS opened three such concept stores in Houston late last year. Called HealthHUBs, the stores “dedicate much less space to typical drugstore products like greeting cards and seasonal items. Instead, these stores offer more health products like sleep apnea mas...Read More

The ill effects of air pollution may literally be causing some people to lose sleep, according to new research published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society. In “The Association of Ambient Air Pollution with Sleep Apnea: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis,” Martha E. Billings, MD, MSc, and co-authors report a link between obstructive sleep apnea and increases in two of the most common air pollutants: fine particulate pollution, known as PM2.5, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2),...Read More

With the Super Bowl coming up on Feb 3, 2019, the New York Times tackled the problem of obesity in retired National Football League (NFL) players. The Jan 17 NY Times article by reporter Ken Belson points out that linemen, in particular, “have higher rates of hypertension, obesity and sleep apnea, which can lead to chronic fatigue, poor diet and even death.” American Sleep and Breathing Academy (ASBA) Diplomate Anthony Scianni, D.M.D., is relied on as an expert in the article that specifically m...Read More

The New Yorker cast a folksy eye on sleep in its Dec 10 issue. The article by Zoe Heller, entitled Why We Sleep and Why We Often Can’t, discusses the still persistent belief that high achievers should take a measure of pride in disregarding slumber. Breaking down the misconception is happening, but perhaps slower than expected. Heller brings up the case of Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post and author of The Sleep Revolution. Huffington was not always a believer in the power of s...Read More

Harvard Women’s Health Watch, a division of Harvard Medical School’s publishing division, is encouraging readers to go beyond over the counter (OTC) sleep aids. In a Dec 2018 article (Drugstore sleep aids may bring more risks than benefits), editors caution that many common pharmacy remedies do not offer the best solutions. The article, geared toward the non professional consumer market, cites a 2017 recommendation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) that encourages people to not ...Read More

How did David Gergen, a nationally respected dental lab technician, manage to find former National Football League (NFL) players interested in helping him spread awareness about dental sleep medicine? The short answer is they eventually found him. Prior to his current roles as CEO of the American Sleep & Breathing Academy (ASBA) and president of the Pro Player Health Alliance (PPHA), Gergen coached high school football at an elite level, eventually winning a state and national championship. ...Read More