There is no topic in sleep more likely to incite a riot between sleep experts than the concept of a sleep debt. Does it really exist? Can a sleep debt ever be repaid? If so, how long? In this episode, we will:

• Define sleep debt
• Examine a new population study on the effects of sleep debt on cardiovascular risk
• Attempt to consolidate the available research into guidelines for dealing effectively with sleep debt
• Differentiate between sleep debt responses in insomnia sufferers and sleep deprived individuals
• Touch on how accurately understanding personal sleep need directly impacts sleep debt

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

We have touched on inflammation as a central pathway connecting sleep disorders and dementia (episode 99), injury (episode 70), pain (episode 48), and cardiovascular disease (episode 35). In this episode, we shine the spotlight directly on inflammation and learn how it is connected to sleep. In this episode we will:

• Examine the reciprocal relationship between inflammation and sleep
• Understand how cytokines play a role in the inflammatory cascade, but also in sleep regulation
• Learn the circumstances that tend to raise cytokine levels, including sleep deprivation, sleep disruption, and excessive sleep
• Explore severe situations of sleep deprivation in animal models and learn how the resultant "cytokine storm" is virtually incompatible with life
• Follow the link between inflammation and chronic diseases, including dementia

Produced by: Maeve Winter

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Somewhere between normal nocturnal breathing and sleep apnea exists a strange entity. This condition, often debated in terms of its mere existence is upper airway resistance syndrome, and knowing about it can be the difference between solving your sleep-related breathing woes and continuing your struggles. In this episode we will:

• define upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS)
• review the concept and pathophysiology of upper airway resistance
• contrast how this disorder is defined in comparison to sleep apnea
• learn the difference between an AHI (apnea-hypopnea index) and an RDI (respiratory disturbance index)
• understand how different sleep studies (in-lab studies, home sleep studies/home sleep tests) might differ in their ability to diagnose the disorder
• list the various treatments that can be applied to the diagnosis

Produced by: Maeve Winter

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!