Sleepiness and Vitamin D Levels in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Study Objectives: The aim of this cross-sectional study is to explore the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels, a marker of Vitamin D status, and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), expressed as increased scores of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), in a group of prospectively enrolled patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Methods: Newly diagnosed patients with OSA, divided into two groups, those with EDS (ESS > 10) and those without EDS (ESS < 10). All patients underwent night polysomnography.

Sleep-Related Drug Therapy in Special Conditions: Children.

Pharmacologic treatment of the most common pediatric sleep disorders lacks evidence, and alternative methods, which have been proved to alleviate the symptoms, are preferred in most cases. The implementation of specific guidelines is of great importance because sleep disorders in children are not rare and they can negatively affect children's development and their cognitive and social skills. This article summarizes the current therapeutic management of sleep disorders in children, bearing in mind the absence of evidence-based guidelines on this topic.

"Peculiar" Snoring in a 40-Year-Old Patient: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

This is a case description of a patient with previously diagnosed rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and nocturnal enuresis, who complained about a "peculiar sound" while sleeping and, occasionally, while awake during intensive exercise, for the last three months. A home audio recording, which his wife obtained while he was sleeping, showed a high-pitched sound identified as stridor. Full video polysomnography revealed no apneas or hypopneas.

Dream Recall/Affect and Cortisol: An Exploratory Study.

The effect of cortisol on dreams has been scarcely studied. The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the possible effect of cortisol levels on dream recall/affect, considering, in female subjects, their menstrual cycle phase. Fifteen men and fifteen women were recruited.

Setting Objective Clinical Assessment Tools for Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders - A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Epidemiological Study.

Introduction: Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder (CRSWD) is an often-misdiagnosed group of sleep disturbances with limited data concerning diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms in the general population. Therefore, reported prevalence varies in the literature due to different case definitions, methodological, and environmental factors.

Objectives: The purpose of our cross-sectional study was to estimate the prevalence of CRSWD in the general population of Cyprus and to suggest clinical parameters for the assessment of atypical sleep schedules.

Alzheimer's Disease in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a disorder with high prevalence among adults and is an independent risk factor for various diseases, especially those affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is usually the optimal choice of treatment for OSAS. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting a large proportion of the elderly population.

The Complex Interaction Between the Major Sleep Symptoms, the Severity of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and Sleep Quality.

Little information exists in the general population whether clinical presentation phenotypes of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) differ in terms of sleep quality and comorbidities. The purpose of our study was to assess possible differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic OSA patients concerning syndrome's severity, patients' sleep quality, and comorbidities. First, in a nationwide, stratified, epidemiological survey, 4,118 Cypriot adult participants were interviewed about sleep habits and complaints.

Sleep During "Lockdown" in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The aim of this study was to determine if the lockdown measures applied due to the pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected the sleep of the general population and health professionals in six different countries (Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, and Brazil). We used a web-based survey with a short questionnaire of 13 questions, translated into four languages (Greek, German, French, and Portuguese). The questionnaire included information about demographic and professional data, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of sleep, degree of abidance in lockdown measures, and data about illness or close contact with active confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Association between Respiratory Sleep Indices and Cardiovascular Disease in Sleep Apnea-A Community-Based Study in Cyprus.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic and prevalent disorder, strongly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), or respiratory event index (REI), and the oxygen desaturation index (ODI) are the clinical metrics of sleep apnea in terms of diagnosis and severity. However, AHI, or REI, does not quantify OSA-related hypoxemia and poorly predicts the consequences of sleep apnea in cardiometabolic diseases.

Serum vitamin D levels in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and level changes after continuous positive airway pressure therapy.

Purpose: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) have been found to exhibit lower serum vitamin D levels, even when the control groups are matched for confounding conditions. However, contradictory studies are also present. This study aimed to compare serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels between adult patients with OSAS and non-apneic controls and to evaluate the changes in 25(OH)D levels after 3 and 12 months of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy.

25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and continuous positive airway pressure treatment: a brief review.

The aim of the present study is to summarize the information available, to time, regarding the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and vitamin-D (vD) levels. Moreover, the association between vD deficiency and OSA severity will also be examined. At the end of the present study the possible advantageous effect of CPAP on vD-levels will be summarized.

Dream Recall and Content versus the Menstrual Cycle: A Cross-Sectional Study in Healthy Women.

The association between sleep and the menstrual cycle has been scarcely studied. This study aimed to investigate the association between dream recall and content and the menstrual cycle among a large sample of young women. To this aim, 944 women were asked about their day of menstrual cycle, whether they remembered the previous night's dreams and if they did so to describe the dream content as pleasant or unpleasant.

Estimating obstructive sleep apnea in Cyprus: a randomised, stratified epidemiological study using STOP-Bang sleep apnea questionnaire.

Introduction: Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated that Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent disorder in the general population and increases over time all over the world. The high prevalence is in part due to increasing rates of obesity. However, estimates of OSA prevalence in Southern Europe are generally lacking.

Clinical Characteristics of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Psychiatric Disease.

Patients with serious psychiatric diseases (major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia and psychotic disorder) often complain about sleepiness during the day, fatigue, low energy, concentration problems, and insomnia; unfortunately, many of these symptoms are also frequent in patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). However, existing data about the clinical appearance of OSA in Psychiatric Disease are generally missing. The aim of our study was a detailed and focused evaluation of OSA in Psychiatric Disease, in terms of symptoms, comorbidities, clinical characteristics, daytime respiratory function, and overnight polysomnography data.

Sleep-Related Drug Therapy in Special Conditions: Children.

Sleep disorders in children may lead to neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive deficits; it is important to diagnose and treat them properly. Apart from the existing challenges in diagnosis, another drawback is that few therapies are currently approved. In this article, a comprehensive summary of the most common pediatric sleep disorders, along with the various pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches for their management, is presented.

NREM sleep transient events in fronto-temporal dementia: beyond sleep stage architecture.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is increasingly becoming recognized as a major cause of early onset (<65 years) neurodegenerative dementia. Although sleep disorders significantly impair patients' and caregivers' quality of life in neurodegenerative diseases, polysomnographic data in FTD patients are scarce in literature. Aim of our study was to investigate sleep microstructure in FTD, by means of Cyclic Alternating Pattern (CAP), in a group of ten behavioral variant FTD patients (6 M, 4 F; mean age 61.

Non-rapid eye movement sleep instability in mild cognitive impairment: a pilot study.

Objective: Polysomnographic (PSG) studies in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are not conclusive and are limited only to conventional sleep parameters. The aim of our study was to evaluate sleep architecture and cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) parameters in subjects with MCI, and to assess their eventual correlation with cognition.

Methods: Eleven subjects with MCI (mean age 68.

EEG-based investigation of brain connectivity changes in psychotic patients undergoing the primitive expression form of dance therapy: a methodological pilot study.

Primitive expression (PE) is a form of dance therapy (DT) that involves an interaction of ethologically and socially based forms which are supplied for re-enactment. There exist very few studies of DT applications including in their protocol the measurement of neurophysiological parameters. The present pilot study investigates the use of the correlation coefficient (ρ) and mutual information (MI), and of novel measures extracted from ρ and MI, on electroencephalographic (EEG) data recorded in patients with schizophrenia while they undergo PE DT, in order to expand the set of neurophysiology-based approaches for quantifying possible DT effects, using parameters that might provide insights about any potential brain connectivity changes in these patients during the PE DT process.

A health-economic analysis of diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure in relation to cardiovascular disease. The Greek experience.

Purpose: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is common in adult population and it is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, especially due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Both diagnosis, based on polysomnography, and treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), carry a potentially high cost. The present study aims to analyze the cost-effectiveness of CPAP treatment versus no treatment, in the long-term, as it examines the effect of this treatment on the incidence of CVD.