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respiratory
Infectious diseases

Updated local advice on respiratory therapies during COVID-19

The Australasian Sleep Association has updated its consensus statement on the safe use of respiratory therapy and NIV to minimise aerosolisation of COVID-19. The statement acknowledges both the relatively low rates of...

The Australasian Sleep Association has updated its consensus statement on the...

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sleep

Sleep clinic doctor jailed for sexual assault

A doctor who was employed as a sleep technician at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney has been jailed for almost four years for sexual assault. Dr Ali Khorami, a GP, was found guilty of exposing himself to women...

A doctor who was employed as a sleep technician at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney has been...
sleep

OSA fitness to drive assessments don’t stand up to scrutiny: ERS

It is still unclear how patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) should be assessed to determine if they are safe to drive, a European Respiratory Society task force has concluded. Despite EU legislation setting OSA benchmarks for safe driving,  a review...

It is still unclear how patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) should be assessed to determine if they are safe...
sleep

Sleep clinic doctor guilty of sexual assaults

A doctor who supervised sleep studies at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney has been found guilty of multiple charges of sexual assault and drink spiking of female patients. Ali Khorami, a GP who was employed on night shifts...

A doctor who supervised sleep studies at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney has been found guilty of...
sleep

CPAP helps with sleep but not dysfunctional breathing

Treatment with CPAP doesn’t appear to help with symptoms of dysfunctional breathing in adults with newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), Australian research shows. In a prospective study at the Gold Coast University Hospital, almost half (47.6%) of 84 OSA...

Treatment with CPAP doesn’t appear to help with symptoms of dysfunctional breathing in adults with newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnoea...
sleep

Australasian Sleep Association issues advice on respiratory therapy and sleep studies

The Australasian Sleep Association is calling a halt to non-essential face to face CPAP or NIV set ups and diagnostic and CPAP sleep studies, due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The advice comes in a Consensus statement on the...

The Australasian Sleep Association is calling a halt to non-essential face to face CPAP or NIV set ups and diagnostic...
sleep

Is it time to put the Epworth Sleepiness Scale to bed?

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) has been shown to have only moderate reproducibility in repeat assessments of patients in a sleep clinic population. It should probably not be used in clinical settings to monitor the impact of therapeutic interventions in individuals...

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) has been shown to have only moderate reproducibility in repeat assessments of patients in a...
sleep

CPAP device maker tasked to make ventilators for COVID-19 surge

CPAP device maker ResMed has been commissioned by a government ‘war production unit’ to help produce some of the additional 2000 ventilators needed meet the increased caseload for COVID-19 associated respiratory failure. Minister for Health Greg Hunt said on Monday 22...

CPAP device maker ResMed has been commissioned by a government ‘war production unit’ to help produce some of the additional...
sleep

Sleep studies costs and gap fees revealed on specialist transparency website

Out of pocket costs for procedures such as sleep studies are now listed on the government's specialist fee transparency website, but it does not provide data for individual practitioners. The Medical Costs Transparency website provides broad...

Out of pocket costs for procedures such as sleep studies are now listed on the government's specialist fee...
sleep

Sleep physicians warned over referrals to CPAP suppliers

Sleep physicians working for equipment suppliers have been warned about sending sleep study reports printed on the back of letters referring patients to these companies. The Medicare claims watchdog the Professional Services Review (PSR) says the practice may not actionable as...

Sleep physicians working for equipment suppliers have been warned about sending sleep study reports printed on the back of letters...
sleep

5 OSA traits identify patients suitable for oral appliances

Polysomnography can be used in people with obstructive sleep apnoea to identify five traits that predict a good response to oral appliances, research shows. The pharyngeal traits of collapsibility and muscle compensation and non-pharyngeal traits of loop gain, arousal threshold and...

Polysomnography can be used in people with obstructive sleep apnoea to identify five traits that predict a good response to...
sleep

Screen and treat OSA patients for insomnia before starting CPAP

People with obstructive sleep apnoea should be evaluated for co-occurring insomnia and considered for cognitive and behavioural therapy before starting CPAP therapy, Australian sleep physicians have advised. Professor Doug McEvoy and co-researchers from the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health at Flinders...

People with obstructive sleep apnoea should be evaluated for co-occurring insomnia and considered for cognitive and behavioural therapy before starting...
sleep

Sleep medicine specialist repays $1.2 m for inappropriate item 12250 claims

A sleep medicine specialist has been reprimanded by the Professional Services Review (PSR) and ordered to repay $1.2 million he received from Medicare for sleep studies under MBS item 12250. The doctor, whose name has been withheld in the report by...

A sleep medicine specialist has been reprimanded by the Professional Services Review (PSR) and ordered to repay $1.2 million he...
sleep

Mandibular splints work for some patients with OSA – but high risk of failure

Mandibular advancement splints (MAS) have a role in the management of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in some patients, but dentists warn of an "unacceptably high" failure rate if not done by a well-trained multidisciplinary team. An Adelaide study also found...

Mandibular advancement splints (MAS) have a role in the management of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in some patients, but dentists...
sleep

CPAP has independent effect on depression in CHD patients

CPAP treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) reduces depression symptoms in people cardiovascular disease independently of improvements in daytime sleepiness, an Australian study has shown. In what is claimed to be the largest trial of its type, Professor Doug McEvoy and...

CPAP treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) reduces depression symptoms in people cardiovascular disease independently of improvements in daytime sleepiness,...
sleep

Sleep medicine specialist forced to repay $470,000 in MBS claims

A respiratory and sleep medicine specialist has been reprimanded by the Medicare claims watchdog and ordered to repay almost half a million dollars for inappropriate claiming of sleep studies MBS items. The un-named practitioner was reviewed by Medicare’s  Professional Services Review...

A respiratory and sleep medicine specialist has been reprimanded by the Medicare claims watchdog and ordered to repay almost half...
sleep

Wake up: asthma symptoms at night might be obstructive sleep apnoea

Nocturnal asthma-like symptoms (NAS) such as tightness in the chest and shortness of breath are often perceived as asthma but could in fact be obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). A study of almost 800 middle-aged participants in the Tasmanian Longitudinal Cohort...

Nocturnal asthma-like symptoms (NAS) such as tightness in the chest and shortness of breath are often perceived as asthma but...
sleep

Sleep studies now need Gold Cover

Sleep studies may only be funded by the top level private health insurance Gold Cover under the new arrangements that come into force on 1 April. According to the Australian Sleep Association, sleep studies are only listed under Gold Cover under...

Sleep studies may only be funded by the top level private health insurance Gold Cover under the new arrangements that...
sleep

Polysomnography helps adjust NIV settings: study

People at risk of respiratory failure who require non-invasive ventilation fare better if their ventilator settings are titrated with polysomnography rather than standard daytime assessment, a study at an Australian sleep centre has shown. Patients had less frequent ventilator asynchrony events...

People at risk of respiratory failure who require non-invasive ventilation fare better if their ventilator settings are titrated with polysomnography...
sleep

4 respiratory medicine experts in 2019 Australia Day Honours List

Four respiratory medicine clinicians have been recognised in the Australia Day 2019 Honours List. Professor Carol Armour, a respiratory pharmacologist and Executive Director of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, was made a Member of the Order of Australia...

Four respiratory medicine clinicians have been recognised in the Australia Day 2019 Honours List. Professor Carol Armour, a respiratory pharmacologist and...
sleep

New MBS items will increase fees for lung function testing

Revisions to MBS items for spirometry and complex lung function tests  from 1 November include two new items for FeNO with spirometry and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing. The revisions are based on recommendations of the MBS Review Taskforce and include a...

Revisions to MBS items for spirometry and complex lung function tests  from 1 November include two new items for FeNO...
sleep

Respiratory physician elected to Academy in recognition of medical research

Respiratory physician and asbestos disease researcher Professor Bruce Robinson is among the 37 new Fellows elected to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences  in recognition of their outstanding contributions to health and medical research in Australia. Professor Robinson  is...

Respiratory physician and asbestos disease researcher Professor Bruce Robinson is among the 37 new Fellows elected to the Australian Academy...
sleep

National inquiry to investigate Australia’s sleep health ‘crisis’

Respiratory and sleep physicians are being urged to have their say in a new national inquiry into sleep health. One in three Australians are believed to get inadequate sleep, something which is estimated to have cost the health system approximately $1.8...

Respiratory and sleep physicians are being urged to have their say in a new national inquiry into sleep health. One in...
sleep

OSA and asthma: sleep specialists show optimism about CPAP effects

Unrecognised obstructive sleep apnoea often co-exists with asthma and CPAP may improve some aspects of asthma patients' quality of life, a pioneering study has shown. In what has been described as the first randomised controlled trial of OSA treatment in...

Unrecognised obstructive sleep apnoea often co-exists with asthma and CPAP may improve some aspects of asthma patients' quality of life,...
sleep

Opioids don’t worsen OSA severity: Australian study

The widely-held belief that opioids worsen OSA severity has been debunked in a randomised controlled trial by Australian researchers. Professional guidelines currently advise that opioids are relatively contraindicated in people with OSA due to their respiratory depression effects, but clinicians from...

The widely-held belief that opioids worsen OSA severity has been debunked in a randomised controlled trial by Australian researchers. Professional guidelines...
sleep

Sleep physicians feel targeted by “voluntary” Medicare billing audits

Dozens of sleep physicians have been advised to carry out “voluntary” self-audits of their Medicare billings for lab and home sleep studies in a move the Australasian Sleep Association says has left the speciality feeling “targeted” and unfairly treated. The ASA...

Dozens of sleep physicians have been advised to carry out “voluntary” self-audits of their Medicare billings for lab and home...
sleep

OTC anti-snoring devices may mask OSA, experts warn

Sleep physicians have sounded the alarm over the unregulated sales of anti-snoring mouthguards, warning they may be diverting patients from seeking medical treatment for serious sleep disorders. Mass-produced mouthguards can be bought over the counter and online but patients who self...

Sleep physicians have sounded the alarm over the unregulated sales of anti-snoring mouthguards, warning they may be diverting patients from...
sleep

Some relief over sleeping tablet concerns for OSA patients

A month of nightly zopiclone treatment does not worsen obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) severity or symptoms in people with low to moderate arousal thresholds, according to Australian research. While hypnotics...

A month of nightly zopiclone treatment does not worsen obstructive...
sleep

Government tightens the screws on sleep disorder industry

New Medicare reforms will help safeguard against the inappropriate use of home based sleep studies and misdiagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea, experts say. More than a year after delivering its recommendations to the MBS Review, the Thoracic Medicine Clinical Committee has...

New Medicare reforms will help safeguard against the inappropriate use of home based sleep studies and misdiagnosis of obstructive sleep...
sleep

Lifestyle rehab should go hand in hand with NIV

The use of nocturnal non-invasive ventilation (NIV) may help correct sleep-related breathing abnormalities in patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), but cannot be relied upon to address cardiovascular or metabolic co-morbidities. Instead, NIV should be a part of an integrated treatment...

The use of nocturnal non-invasive ventilation (NIV) may help correct sleep-related breathing abnormalities in patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS),...
sleep

CPAP machines should be prescription only, says ASA

The peak body for sleep physicians is calling for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machines to be made prescription-only. The Australasian Sleep Association is calling on the TGA to regulate the sale of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines, used to treat...

The peak body for sleep physicians is calling for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machines to be made prescription-only. The Australasian Sleep...
sleep

TSANZ calls for mandatory accreditation for sleep centres

The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand has called for the accreditation of sleep laboratories to maximise quality of care and ensure appropriate treatment. This is part of a raft of recommendations made by TSANZ in its submission to...

The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand has called for the accreditation of sleep laboratories to maximise quality of...
sleep

CPAP doesn’t prevent secondary cardiac events in OSA

The use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy does not prevent recurrent cardiovascular events in people with obstructive sleep apnoea despite significantly reducing daytime sleepiness and improving quality-of-life and mood, a large Australian led study finds.  Flinders University’s Professor Doug...

The use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy does not prevent recurrent cardiovascular events in people with obstructive sleep...
sleep

Identifying opioid outliers in OSA

Physiological testing can help identify patients with obstructive sleep apnoea who are at the highest risk of respiratory depression when using opioid analgesics, Associate Professor David Wang from the Woolcock Institute has told ATS delegates. He told the meeting that prescription opioid...

Physiological testing can help identify patients with obstructive sleep apnoea who are at the highest risk of respiratory depression when...
sleep

OSA treatment has no effect on glycaemic control

Positive airway pressure does not improve glycaemic control in people with type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnoea, an Australian led study shows. However the randomised study published in the American Journal...

Positive airway pressure does not improve glycaemic control in people with type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnoea, an Australian...
sleep

CPAP trumps mandibular devices

Continuous positive airway pressure is more effective than mandibular advancement devices for reducing daytime sleepiness in people with OSA, a meta-analysis in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine concludes. The network meta-analysis of 67 studies involving 6873 patients found that CPAP was...

Continuous positive airway pressure is more effective than mandibular advancement devices for reducing daytime sleepiness in people with OSA, a...
sleep

Plot thickens on sleep disordered breathing and heart failure

The use of adaptive servo-ventilation to treat central sleep apnoea in patients with systolic heart failure increases mortality, an international trial finds. The randomised SERVE-HF phase III study of 1325 patients with symptomatic chronic...

The use of adaptive servo-ventilation to treat central sleep apnoea in patients with systolic heart...
sleep

The big sleep: science is waking up to the curious story of narcolepsy

Perhaps because we all need sleep, we have an enduring interest in tales of people who sleep continuously or cannot stay awake – popular characters such as Sleeping Beauty and Rip Van Winkle are just two examples. Totally somnolent...

Perhaps because we all need sleep, we have an enduring interest in tales of people who sleep continuously or cannot...
sleep

Dirty CPAP device linked to legionnaire’s

A recent case of legionnaire's disease linked to a dirty CPAP mask reaffirms that respiratory devices can be a reservoir for potentially fatal pathogens, researchers say. A 77-year-old man presented to his GP with a fever, productive cough...

A recent case of legionnaire's disease linked to a dirty CPAP mask reaffirms that respiratory devices can be...
sleep

You slept for how long?

People undergoing home polysomnography tests for suspected OSA are not that good at estimating their sleep time, a study from Victoria shows. But the findings do not appear to have a significant affect on diagnosis, reported the authors from Austin Hospital, Heidelberg,...

People undergoing home polysomnography tests for suspected OSA are not that good at estimating their sleep time, a study...
sleep

Playing a wind instrument could prevent sleep apnoea

Playing a wind instrument could be a cheap and non-invasive way of preventing sleep apnoea, delegates at the Sleep and Breathing Conference have heard.  Researchers in India conducted lung function testing in 64 people who played a wind...

Playing a wind instrument could be a cheap and non-invasive way of preventing sleep apnoea, delegates at the...
sleep

Primary care should play greater role in OSA: experts

Primary care professionals need to be more actively engaged in the management of obstructive sleep apnoea if the unmet burden of disease is to be addressed, says Professor Doug McEvoy and colleagues from the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health. In a ...

Primary care professionals need to be more actively engaged in the management of obstructive sleep apnoea if the unmet burden of...
sleep

Asthma a risk factor for OSA

Asthma increases the chances of clinically relevant obstructive sleep apnea in adulthood, a prospective study finds. Participants with preexisting asthma had a nearly 40 percent increased risk for new OSA compared with those without asthma, according to the research published...

Asthma increases the chances of clinically relevant obstructive sleep apnea in adulthood, a prospective study finds. Participants with preexisting asthma had...
sleep

‘Healthy’ obese just a phase

Most obese people become less healthy over time finds research spanning 20 years. The study, which defined 'healthy obese' as obesity without the presence of metabolic risk factors, found that just over half of the 2,500 men and...

Most obese people become less healthy over time finds research spanning 20 years. The study, which defined 'healthy...
sleep

Sleep issues raise obesity risk

Children with the worst sleep disordered breathing (SDB) were twice as likely to be obese by 7,10 and 15 years of age. Children with the shortest sleep time were at 5 and 6 years had a 60-100% chance of being...

Children with the worst sleep disordered breathing (SDB) were twice as likely to be obese by 7,10 and 15 years...
sleep

CPAP, mandibular devices improve OSA depression

CPAP and mandibula devices modestly improve depression in OSA, but patients with a higher rate of depression at baseline are most likely to benefit. The systematic review and meta-analysis did not assess the efficacy of these interventions compared to standard...

CPAP and mandibula devices modestly improve depression in OSA, but patients with a higher rate of depression at baseline are...
sleep

CPAP causes weight gain in OSA

CPAP can cause significant weight gain in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, a meta-analysis of randomized trials shows. The Brazilian authors suggest patients commencing ventilation therapy should be offered additional therapy to keep the weight off....

CPAP can cause significant weight gain in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, a meta-analysis of randomized trials shows. The Brazilian...