The evidence base on screening for obstructive sleep apnoea has again been declared too weak to make a definitive recommendation either for or against in asymptomatic adults. The statement by the US Preventive Services Task Force (link here) echoes a...

The evidence base on screening for obstructive sleep apnoea has again been declared too weak to make a definitive recommendation...

Over a third of insomniacs are regularly attempting some form of trick to get to sleep, but most aren’t counting sheep, survey data reveals. Instead, the most popular strategies typically involve breathing or relaxation exercises, according to the poll answered by...

Over a third of insomniacs are regularly attempting some form of trick to get to sleep, but most aren’t counting...

Reducing obstructive sleep apnoea rates by just a tenth in Australia would substantially improve health outcomes, produce life expectancy gains totalling 45,000 years and add $25 billion to the GDP, it has been estimated. The figures are based on modelling by...

Reducing obstructive sleep apnoea rates by just a tenth in Australia would substantially improve health outcomes, produce life expectancy gains...

Monotherapy with the norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor reboxetine alone reduces obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity. Until now, and as previously reported in the limbic [link here], the evidence for benefit from noradrenergic agents in OSA was when they were combined with...

Monotherapy with the norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor reboxetine alone reduces obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity. Until now, and as previously reported in...

An Australian study of patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has been unable to identify reliable clinical predictors of which patients will respond to surgery, even with prior knowledge of the OSA endotypes. While used as a second-line treatment for patients...

An Australian study of patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has been unable to identify reliable clinical predictors of which...

Sleep disordered breathing has been found in four out of five healthy Australians aged over 70 years in a large cohort study and is often linked to impaired physical health-related quality of life and cognitive function. Monash University researchers analysed data...

Sleep disordered breathing has been found in four out of five healthy Australians aged over 70 years in a large...

An intellectually disabled woman with obstructive sleep apnoea may have died from pneumonia contracted from a CPAP machine that was not regularly cleaned by her care provider, a coroner has concluded. The 44-year old woman who lived in a residential care...

An intellectually disabled woman with obstructive sleep apnoea may have died from pneumonia contracted from a CPAP machine that was...

Australian respiratory researchers are pitching a new approach to sleep apnoea detection after finding one in five people may be misdiagnosed in single-night studies. The home-based method uses under-mattress sensor technology to track respiratory events over several nights, giving physicians a...

Australian respiratory researchers are pitching a new approach to sleep apnoea detection after finding one in five people may be...

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) can be reliably diagnosed in the primary care setting with a portable nasal flow monitor in a model that offers an alternative to sleep specialist-led services, Australian research shows. The Sydney OSA-GP study, led by the Woolcock...

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) can be reliably diagnosed in the primary care setting with a portable nasal flow monitor in...

The combination of the noradrenergic agent reboxetine plus the anti-muscarinic hyoscine butylbromide reduces OSA severity, according to Australian researchers. Their preliminary study, published in the Journal of Physiology, provides the promise of a pharmacological approach to OSA - an alternative...

The combination of the noradrenergic agent reboxetine plus the anti-muscarinic hyoscine butylbromide reduces OSA severity, according to Australian researchers. Their preliminary...

Respiratory and sleep medicine physicians are being advised to seek additional clinical and legal advice when making decisions on how to manage patients using Philips respiratory ventilator devices that are subject to a recall. The TGA has issued an alert...

Respiratory and sleep medicine physicians are being advised to seek additional clinical and legal advice when making decisions on how...

A parliamentary inquiry into approval processes for new drugs and novel medical technologies has again raised the issue of how patients with rare sleep disorders such as narcolepsy are managed in Australia. A public hearing of the Inquiry heard consumers...

A parliamentary inquiry into approval processes for new drugs and novel medical technologies has again raised the issue of how...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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),...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...