This webinar will provide an overview of sleep health through the lens of behavioral sleep medicine - addressing the fundamental functions of sleep, sleep disorders, and treating insomnia and CPAP non-adherence using evidence-based methodologies. 

Objectives:

1. Provide an overview of normal human sleep functioning

2. Identify and assess common sleep disorders

3. Fundamentals of behavioral interventions for insomnia and CPAP adherence. 

Natalia S. David, PsyD, DBSM

Director of Training, DrLullaby.com

Continuing Education:

• 1 AAST CEC after passing a short knowledge assessment in the AAST Learning Center

Access:

• Free with AAST Membership
• $30 for Non-Members

A panel of senior sleep technologists will be sharing their experiences and lessons learned that have helped build their successful careers in the sleep center, and sleep industry. 

Objectives:
1.  Provide insight on what skillsets helped prepare for their current roles
2.  Understand different roles in the sleep field
3.  Discuss training not just for new employees, but ongoing to promote educational growth and promote career opportunities 

Speakers: 

•  Sarah Brennecka, BA, RPSGT,  AAST Education Advisory Committee Chair 
•  Bryan Beaudette, RPSGT, CCSH 
•  Tessa Klucznyk, RST, RPSGT 
•  Andrea Ramberg, RPSGT, CCSH

Continuing Education:
1 AAST CEC after passing a short knowledge assessment in the AAST Learning Center
Access:
Free with AAST Membership
$30 for Non-Members

The 2023 Q3 issue of A₂Zzz is here! This issue's cover story offers advice for sleep-care professionals treating sleep problems in patients with long COVID. 

Explore additional articles, including:

• The Impact of Sound on Sleep
  
• Sleep Hygiene: Practicing What You Preach 
• The Impact of Halloween on Sleep Hygiene

Updates to Claiming CECs From A2Zzz

AAST members looking to claim their free AAST continuing education credits (CECs) from reading the latest issue of A2Zzz will now need to complete a knowledge assessment in the Learning Center. Upon completion of the knowledge assessment, AAST members will be awarded their two free AAST CECs. For additional information on this change, please view the instructions for earning credits from A2Zzz.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in children effects of 2-3% of all children, however in light of the rising prevalence of childhood obesity, the estimated prevalence has increased to 6-10% of all children. While the first line of therapy for Pediatric OSA in children consists of upper airway surgery via surgical removal off the adenoids and tonsils, it has become increasingly clear that surgery efficacy is limited in older and//or obese children. As a result, alternative therapies, including positive airway pressure  (PAP) therapy has become mainstay for a lot of children. The application of PAP devices in children is unique and requires further attention to ensure that PAP therapy is successful.

Objectives:

1. Provide an overview of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in children
2. Distinguish indications for Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) therapy in children
3. Discuss obstacles of PAP adherence in  children
4. Share real world data of PAP adherence in children

Rakesh Bhattacharjee, MD, FRCPC, DABP(SM), CBSM, DBSM, FAASM

Director of Sleep Medicine, Rady Children’s Hospital

Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, UCSD

Continuing Education:

• 1 AAST CEC after passing a short knowledge assessment in the AAST Learning Center

Access:

• Free with AAST Membership
• $30 for Non-Members

Description: People living within “the spectrum” of autism are known to struggle with sleep. Chiefly it’s insomnia, but circadian rhythm disorders, movement disorders of sleep, parasomnias, and other sleep issues are also common in both children and adults who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). What is it about neurodivergence that leads to sleep problems? Or is it the other way around? YAMADA et al tries to dig more deeply to answer the question, looking more closely at two key theories about ASD which may reveal sleep as a kind of missing link that needs more control in future research. This month’s journal club seeks to demystify the puzzle of autism. We’ll shine a spotlight on sleep disorders that frequently occur in this patient population, then review YAMADA et al’s findings. Finally, sleep technologists will take a look at some strategies into best care practices and tools to inform how we work with patients, both pediatric and adult, who live on the spectrum.

Recorded: 6/26/2023

CEC Credit(s): 1.0

Target Audience: Sleep technologists

Length: 1-hour

Description: With all the attention focusing on open source chatGPT these days (a popular interactive form of artificial intelligence, or AI), it seems necessary to discuss how aspects of AI—especially machine learning—impact our work in sleep technology. Specifically, new research has set out to find new, more efficient and accurate ways to identify patients with sleep apnea, determine its severity, and even decide on more personalized treatment pathways. This month’s Journal Club address AI and OSA by first examining just what machine learning is, then exploring the history of AI in the healthcare industry, looking even more closely at how it has served the field of sleep medicine and technology. Then we’ll review the Maniaci, et al (2023) study, which takes a closer look at how certain algorithms might help sleep medicine practitioners to better help identify and treat those patients with more severe sleep breathing disorders.

Recorded: 4/27/2023

CEC Credit(s): 1.0

Target Audience: Sleep technologists

Length: 1-hour

Description: Sleep health has taken a big hit globally in the wake of the pandemic. This isn’t news, nor is it surprising to learn that our healthcare peers on the COVID-19 frontline are suffering from long-term sleep and mental health problems. One particular population of medical professionals, registered nurses, are the target for recent research suggesting an alarming mental health impact on those working the frontlines. In this month’s Journal Club, we’ll review how sleep, or lack of sleep, or poor sleep, can affect psychological health in general and consider sleep health among healthcare workers prior to the pandemic. Then we’ll break down the NORFUL et al study into two separate sections, the first one examining the foundation of the study specifically tuned to psychological health concerns, and the second section focused on the sleep health implications of the study as well as insights into how this might impact us on the job in sleep clinics and research laboratories.

Recorded: 2/27/2023

CEC Credit(s): 1.0

Target Audience: Sleep technologists

Length: 1-hour

This content is provided by Zoll/Respicardia.

Join us for a pre-recorded web course discussing Central Sleep Apnea as well as the clinical evidence for phrenic nerve stimulation.
Topics include:

• CSA pathophysiology and prevalence
• How phrenic nerve stimulation therapy works in stabilizing breathing
• Appropriate patients for phrenic nerve stimulation
• Clinical results at 6, 12 and 18 months

Presenters:

Dr. Alan Schwartz

• Professor of Medicine, ret. (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine)
• Clinical Associate Professor (University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine)
• Profesor Extraordinario Visitante (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima PERU)
• Former medical director of the Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorders Center and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Interdisciplinary Sleep Research and Education

Dr. Robin Germany

• Chief Medical Officer of Respicardia
• Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Cardiovascular Disease, University of Oklahoma

CEC Credit(s): 1.0

Length: 52 minutes

This content is provided by Zoll/Respicardia.

Overview: Understand the tools, approaches, and clinical evidence for diagnosing and treating sleep apnea in cardiac patients. This content is provided free of charge by Respicardia.

Presenters:

Kunal Agarwal, MD, FAAFP, FAASM, DipABOM
Medical Director, TidalHealth Sleep Medicine, Seaford & Mellsboro, Delaware
Objectives:

Explore the evidence for sleep apnea screening in cardiology, with a focus on heart failure patients
Understand the mechanisms and clinical consequences of untreated central sleep apnea
Review the evidence for transvenous phrenic nerve stimulation (TPNS) to treat central sleep apnea

CEC Credit(s): 1.0

Length: 45 minutes

Description: Discussion of the sleep recording of a 66 year old woman with snoring and daytime sleepiness. The record shows prolonged sleep onset, fragmented sleep, and no REM sleep. This presentation uses this record to review the incidence of the comorbidity of apnea and insomnia, and treatment options are discussed. 

Presenter: Richard S. Rosenberg, PhD

Recorded: 11/24/14

CEC Credit(s): 1.0

Target Audience: Sleep technologists and sleep center managers

Length: 43 minutes