Sleep medicine
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To explore the association between sleep duration and daily caffeine intake in a working population. Caffeine acutely disrupts sleep in the laboratory, but the inter-relations between sleep and caffeine intake in daily life are ill-known. ⋯ Despite the well-known acute effects of caffeine on sleep, habitual use of up to 7 cups of coffee (or 600 mg of caffeine equivalent) per day was not associated with decreased duration of sleep.
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To determine the association between structural cardiac changes and postoperative respiratory complications after adenotonsillectomy for obstructive breathing during sleep. ⋯ The increased prevalence of structural cardiac changes in the group with complications (P<0.01) suggests an underlying cardiac origin for postoperative respiratory complications in this group of children.
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Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common central nervous system disorder; however, there is currently a lack of well-validated and easily-administered measures of RLS severity available. The International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group has recently developed a 10-item scale to meet this need. The International Restless Legs Severity Scale (IRLS) has been shown to have a high degree of reliability, validity, and internal consistency. In order to further demonstrate the validity of the IRLS, the present study examined the relationship between scores on individual IRLS items and overall RLS severity. ⋯ Each IRLS item showed a good relationship between responses on that item and overall RLS severity, providing further evidence for the validity of the IRLS as a measure of RLS severity in RLS patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, short-term trial of ropinirole in restless legs syndrome.
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a condition characterized by an urge to move the legs, usually accompanied by lower limb paresthesias. These symptoms worsen at rest, are relieved by activity, and are worse at night. Previous studies have suggested that dopaminergic drugs such as L-dopa and dopamine agonists, as well as benzodiazepines and opioids, can treat RLS successfully. The purpose of this study was to test the clinical efficacy of ropinirole, a D2/D3 agonist, in the treatment of RLS in a double-blind, short-term, placebo-controlled clinical trial. ⋯ Ropinirole successfully treated long-standing RLS and can be considered a viable short-term treatment for this condition.
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To evaluate the spontaneous eye-blink as drowsiness/sleepiness indicator in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) syndrome. ⋯ Specific parameters of the spontaneous eye-blink may be applied as a sleepiness index for diagnostics in OSA patients. Further studies are needed to prove the diagnostic value of blink parameters and their advantages in comparison to subjective measures commonly used in clinical studies.