News & Announcements
The Pandemic of Sedentariness
By: Emmanuel During, MD We will all remember the year 2020. A tragic year of confinement, emotional and financial strain across the society and across the globe. It seems that a lot can be said about this, but not much can be done, except for physically distancing,...
Severe Restless Legs Syndrome in the Setting of Iron Deficiency and Chronic Blood Loss
By: Sam A. Kashani, MD Introduction Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis-Ekbom Disease (WED), is a common sleep-related movement disorder characterized by an uncomfortable sensation in the legs associated with an urge to move the leg that usually...
A Quality Approach in Times of Uncertainty: Taking a Look at the ISO 9001 Framework
By: Robyn Woidtke, RN, RPSGT The status quo is no longer the status quo. I decided not to write about COVID-19 with regards to reopening and other such issues, however, with the crisis, there is also opportunity. Opportunity to re-evaluate current practices...
Sleep and the COVID Pandemic
By: Sam A. Kashani, MD Since the COVID-19 pandemic started in early 2020, we have all been subjected to give up our usual routines and coping skills, such as going to the gym, socializing with friends, and many other activities that constitute our daily life...
It Goes to Show, You Never Can Tell
By: Rafael Pelayo, MD It seems that the news about the Coronavirus pandemic got markedly worse after we lost an hour of sleep due to the daylight-saving shift. Correlations are not causation, but lack of sleep makes us more susceptible to viral infections. So...
The Sleep Tech Paradox
By: Jonathan Sherrill, BA, RST, RPSGT A paradox is any seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true. The job of the sleep tech is inherently a paradox, as working overnight...
Fatigue
By: Andrew S. Binder, MD, FAASM, FCCP All of us in healthcare hear patients complain of fatigue. “Doc, I’m tired of being tired,” is what I have heard so many times in my career that I use it as the title of talks that I give to medical residents as well to the lay...
Is technology hindering or helping sleep tech development?
By: Jonathan Sherrill, BA, RPSGT, RST Are we relying too much on technology? When using the computer, how many of us rely on spell check to constantly fix the same spelling errors in place of general word memorization? On our phones, how many of us rely exclusively on...
What is Patient Advocacy and how can we help our Sleep Disorders Patients
By Robyn Woidtke, RN, RPSGT We all need help and support during medical situations that impact our and/or our loved one’s life. During difficult times it is easy to feel vulnerable, alone, afraid and uncertain as to what lies ahead. I do not think sleep disorders...
Leadership for Technical Professionals: Competence
By Edwin M Valladares, MS, RPSGT Competence is, “the ability to do something successfully or efficiently.”1 To move from a technical position to a leadership position you will need to be competent in what you are already doing and in what you will be doing as a...
Mild Sleep Apnea & Excessive Sleepiness
By: Sam Kashani, MD The severity of sleep apnea is determined on a sleep study and is typically based on the number of respiratory pauses/disruptions per hour of sleep, which is generally reflected by the RDI, or respiratory disturbance index. Keeping in mind that a...
“Summer’s Here and the Time is Right for Dancing in the Street”
By: Rafael Pelayo, MD I hope all of you are in full swing enjoying the 2022 summer. It has been strange for many of us to start interacting again with each other in person. For those of us in the healthcare field, we are in a hybrid situation of keeping the strict...
What Do Video Games Tell Us About Sleep?
By: Eric Young, RPSGT Exiting the pandemic, there’s been an increase in electronic media consumption. More people are on TikTok, connecting through Facebook, and, of course, playing video games. A 2019 survey[1] by CommonSenseMedia.org showed 56% of 13 to...
Why Sacramento?
By: Rafael Pelayo, MD “Why not?” is the simplest answer. For years, many California Sleep Society (CSS) members, have wanted our annual meeting be in Sacramento. We will hold our first meeting there at the end of September. It does take a lot of time to...
Guardrails
By: Rafael Pelayo, MD What did Jerry Garcia and Antonin Scalia likely have most in common? How they slept. About a third of their time they shared the same condition millions of others do. Their deaths were related to obstructive sleep apnea. Jerry Garcia did not...
The Occasional Rough Night
By: Sam A. Kashani, MD One of my favorite questions I am frequently asked by people is “what do you recommend I do if I’m just having a bad night?“ More specifically, I often encounter a solid sleeper who doesn’t necessarily have a chronic sleep difficulty but just...
15th Annual Educational Symposium – 2022
In Memoriam: Allan Rechtschaffen, PhD (1927 – 2021)
The California Sleep Society mourns the death of the Allan Rechtschaffen, PhD.
The Patient Treatment Burden of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Impact on Adherence
By: Robyn Woidtke, MSN, RN, RPSGT, CCSH, FAAST Non-adherence in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a known risk factor which may contribute to worsening of the condition, exacerbate co-morbid or multimorbid conditions or contribute to the development of...
A New Light at the End of the Idiopathic Hypersomnia Tunnel
By: Sam Kashani, MD, FAASM In August 2021, Jazz Pharmaceuticals announced the US FDA approval of Xywav for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia in adults. Xywav, an oral solution consisting primarily of oxybate (GHB), already has approval for the treatment of...