News & Announcements
Diagnosing REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
Can we continue to diagnose REM sleep behavior disorder the way we do? By Emmanuel During, MD Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine Stanford University Few topics in sleep medicine have in the recent years gained as much attention and scientific insights...
Nasal Issues and Adherence
By: Robyn Woidtke, RN, RPSGT As plain as the nose on your face; or is it? In addition to being quite an interesting physical attribute of the human anatomy, the role of the nose is a significant component when considering initiation and on-going adherence to treatment...
A Call to Action: Sleep Disorder Awareness for the Next Generation
By Edwin M. Valladares, MS, RPSGT University of Southern California, USC Sleep Disorders Center This past Christmas, activity tracking companies made a push towards ensuring future business from the next generation by selling kid friendly activity trackers. Among...
The Integrity of the Sleep Medicine Field
I would just like to start out this month’s blog post by telling everyone just how proud I am to be a Sleep Technologist! When I run into Trader Joe’s on my way home from work, I always proudly correct the cashier, “No, I’m not a nurse, I am a sleep tech,” even though...
Recap of the 11th Annual Educational Symposium
By Rafael Pelayo The California Sleep Society ("CSS") celebrated its 11th Annual Meeting at the end of September. We welcomed over 300 participants to sunny San Diego for the two-day event. We thank our membership’s support for making this meeting a great success. ...
Dreaming
By: William Hart, MD, FAASM Dreams are a personal and difficult (if not impossible) experience to measure and interpret. For some, dreams are ghost-like impressions of the passage through each night’s sleep. Others will be very detailed about a dreaming...
Sleep Hygiene: The dirty secret that keeps us awake
Mohammad Shahnawaz Khan, BA, RPSGT, CCSH Over sixty million Americans suffer from sleep related issues. This consists of a wide array of different sleep disorders, including insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and more. Sleep hygiene, a phrase that has been used often...
From Sleep Technologist to Device Regulatory Science
Author: Edwin M. Valladares, M.S., RPSGT, RST Manager, Keck Medical Center of USC, USC Sleep Disorders Center Lecturer, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Div. of Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Co-Coordinator, USC Center for Sleep Health Using Bioengineering...
Hope for Central Sleep Apnea Patients: A Q&A with Respicardia, Inc.
Author: Edwin M. Valladares, M.S., RPSGT, RST Manager & Sr. Technologist, Keck Medical Center of USC, USC Sleep Disorders Center Lecturer, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Div. of Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Co-Coordinator, USC Center for Sleep...
Creating Awareness in March
It’s that time of year again. On March 11th, here in California, we will all “spring forward” by setting our clocks ahead by one hour, starting Daylight Saving. Some people love the time change because it means more daylight hours and is a sign summer is right around...
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...