On your back? Side? Face-down? Mice show how we sleep may trigger or protect our brain from diseases like ALS

Image: Unsplash/Lux Graves, CC BY

Reproduced from The Conversation 27 May 2022

by David Wright, Monash University

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is the most common form of motor neuron disease. People with ALS progressively lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movements, including the ability to speak, swallow and breathe.

There is no known cure. But recently, we studied mice and identified a new target in the fight against this devastating disease: the brain’s waste clearance system.

Taking a lateral approach to curing sleep apnea

Sleeping on your side helps reduce apnea events. Image: Getty

by Anne Crawford

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common yet serious disorder in which obstruction of the throat (upper airway) causes breathing to repeatedly stop and start, resulting in fragmented sleep, sleep deprivation, daytime tiredness and leaving OSA patients liable to a number of health risks.

Curiously, although obesity is the strongest risk factor for developing OSA, weight loss – while it can improve the severity of OSA – rarely cures it.

New book chapter on sleep disorders and cardiovascular disease

Prof Matthew Naughton (Department of AIRmed) has a chapter, "Sleep Disorders and Cardiovascular Disease" published in the new Handbook of Psychocardiology (2016), edited by Don Byrne and Marlies Alvarenga.

The handbook brings together comprehensive evidence bearing on what is now commonly termed "psycho-cardiology". It focuses on the role of psycho-social factors in the genesis and clinical management of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The book is a critically reviewed compendium of current knowledge in the area, coupled with guides to evidence-based best practice in the field of psycho-cardiology.

See link: www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Handbook-of-Psychocardiology-Don-Byrne-Edited-by-Marlies-Alvarenga-Edited-by/9789812872050

CRC for Alertness, Safety & Productivity receives $14.5 million

Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) funding was announced on 16 February 2013. The CRC for Alertness, Safety and Productivity will receive $14.5 million over seven years to reduce the burden of impaired alertness on the safety, productivity and health of all Australians. This CRC was submitted as a partnership between Monash University Sleep Network, Sydney and Flinders Universities.