Archive for June, 2008

June
30th 2008
Kids learn about bugs, make insect mobiles – Gulf Coast Newspapers

Posted under bed bugs

Kids learn about bugs, make insect mobiles
Gulf Coast Newspapers, AL - 4 hours ago
Children learned about pests such as mosquitos, yellow jackets and ticks; they engaged in a lengthy discussion about bed bugs that induced several “ews” and

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June
30th 2008
Adopt Sleep Hygiene Habits

Posted under sleep news

We all work hard to practice good hygiene but how is your sleep hygiene? Sleep specialists say that we need to adopt ” sleep hygiene habits ” in order to get a good night’s sleep – ‘ at least seven hours a …

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June
30th 2008
New 'bed barrier' fights bedbug infestations – The Canadian Press

Posted under bed bugs

New 'bed barrier' fights bedbug infestations
The Canadian Press - Jun 30, 2008
The Harvard School of Public Health says any encasement that is used for protection from the dust mite is sufficient for much larger bed bugs.

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June
30th 2008
New 'bed barrier' fights bedbug infestations – The Canadian Press

Posted under bed bugs

New 'bed barrier' fights bedbug infestations
The Canadian Press - 14 hours ago
The Harvard School of Public Health says any encasement that is used for protection from the dust mite is sufficient for much larger bed bugs.

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June
29th 2008
Mattress maker's metrics look comfy, but watch out for bed bugs – Globe and Mail

Posted under bed bugs

Mattress maker's metrics look comfy, but watch out for bed bugs
Globe and Mail, Canada - Jun 29, 2008
"Invest so that you can sleep at night." In the mattress industry, our ability to snooze remains tempered by the possible bed bugs of a value trap.

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June
29th 2008
Latest Bedbug News From Bedbug News, Risk & Law Blog – PRLog.Org (press release)

Posted under bed bugs

Latest Bedbug News From Bedbug News, Risk & Law Blog
PRLog.Org (press release), Romania - Jun 29, 2008
According to the report, "the most common infestations in public housing stock are German cockroaches, house mice and bed bugs.

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June
29th 2008
Narcolepsy, choices, medications

Posted under Uncategorized

Narcoleptic Knights blog is written by a man with narcolepsy. His frequent posts talk about the struggles that this diagnosis has caused him. He talks about the symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness and hallucinatory dreams. He talks about the side effects of medications that are prescribed for narcolepsy like Provigil and Zyrem. Perhaps of most interest, he talks about the fact that no matter what he does or what he takes, he is still going to have symptoms. Therefore, a lot of the blog posts deal with the issue of accepting his narcolepsy symptoms. For those of you interested in narcolepsy, he has some good links on the blog.

I find that acceptance of your sleep disorder, whatever it is, is crucial to a satisfactory outcome. For example, in the cases of narcolepsy and restless legs syndrome, it is rare that symptoms are 100 % eliminated with medications. So those people who cannot accept some symptoms, those people who insist on complete suppression of symptoms, are often those who end up taking too many medications or too high a dose of medications, and are always in a swing between symptoms and side effects. They are distressed.

Setting realistic goals is critical. A narcoleptic should not be an air traffic controller. The narcoleptic needs to adapt his or her daily activities to the condition; needs to plan a couple of naps per day, needs to carefully adjust the timing and dosing of the medications. Similarly, an insomniac needs to set realistic goals. A somewhat anxious person who has trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep cannot expect 9 hours of sleep every night. They cannot expect to feel great when awakening every morning, like on the sleeping pill commercials. They need to balance their symptoms against the sleeping pills, change their habits, and find a balance that is acceptable to them. After all, what other option is there?

Lastly, Narcoleptic Knights talks about the prejudice of doctors against narcoleptics, and I think there is some, and also against insomniacs. Many people just don’t know how bad, real, and scary these conditions are. The medications that treat them are “dangerous” or “additive.” But for most narcoleptics that I see, it is I who have to convince them of the importance of the medications; most are not in this to seek out amphetamine. Yet many doctors are still very reluctant to prescribe such medications, and they might question the diagnosis or try to get the patient to use a medication that has failed the patient in the past. This is one reason that for narcoleptics, it is important to have a perfectly performed diagnostic sleep study and MSLT.

It should go with them, perhaps with a consultation from an academic sleep center, to any new doctor they see.

J. Steven Poceta MD is a licensed practitioner of neurology and sleep disorders who has been engaged by Revolution Health. No information in this blog is intended to diagnose or treat any condition. The opinions expressed here are Dr. Poceta’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Revolution Health.

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June
28th 2008
This Week on Sound Medicine

Posted under sleep news

This weekend, June 28 and 29, Sound Medicine , the award-winning weekly Public Radio program hosted by Barbara Lewis, focuses on physician ratings, using stem cells in orthopedic surgery and a new treatment for …

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June
28th 2008
Lack Of Fragile X And Related Gene Fractures Sleep

Posted under Uncategorized

Lack of both the fragile X syndrome gene and one that is related could account for sleep problems associated with the disorder, which is the common cause of inherited mental impairment, said a consortium of researchers led by scientists at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Their findings appear in a report in the current issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

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June
28th 2008
Bedbugs infest women's shelter – Charlotte Observer

Posted under bed bugs

Bedbugs infest women's shelter
Charlotte Observer, NC - 21 hours ago
The bites and rashes from the bedbugs have made it hard for some women to find a job. And the medicine given to fight the itching, such as steroids or

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June
28th 2008
Animal Study Suggests Inadequate Sleep May Exacerbate Cellular Aging In The Elderly

Posted under Uncategorized

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown that the unfolded protein response, which is a reaction to stress induced by sleep deprivation, is impaired in the brains of old mice. The findings suggest that inadequate sleep in the elderly, who normally experience sleep disturbances, could exacerbate an already-impaired protective response to protein misfolding that happens in aging cells.

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June
27th 2008
Hugs (Not Bugs, or even Drugs) for Hackers – CRN

Posted under bed bugs

Hugs (Not Bugs, or even Drugs) for Hackers
CRN, NY - 3 hours ago
They fight for the bed, they insult each other, they make each other bleed. So, will these hackers be reformed? Will they return to the "normal" society?

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June
27th 2008
Survey Shows Knee And Lower Back Pain Contribute To Insomnia, Weight Gain, Money Loss And More

Posted under Uncategorized

What’s the biggest pain in your life? Credit card debt? High gas prices? While these problems are extremely bothersome, a new survey from the makers of DR. SCHOLL’S

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June
27th 2008
Phase III Data Show Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ Tasimelteon (VEC-162) Significantly Improves Sleep In Patients With Chronic Insomnia

Posted under Uncategorized

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: VNDA) (Vanda) announced positive top-line results from a Phase III trial showing that its investigational drug candidate, tasimelteon (VEC-162), a novel melatonin agonist, met the primary endpoint of the trial and significantly improved sleep in adult patients with chronic insomnia.

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June
26th 2008
The you doc: The serious side effects of snoring

Posted under sleep news

If you’ve ever had a snoring bedfellow rob you of sleep while blissfully sawing logs, here’s some news: Snoring bothers snorers, too.

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