Sleep Disorders

The diagnostic criteria for major depression are anhedonia, depressed mood, feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt, inability to concentrate, fatigue, insomnia or hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation or retardation, significant weight loss or gain, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Five or more of these symptoms must be present for at least 2 weeks, and one of them must be anhedonia or depressed mood. Conditions that can present with depression include dysthymia, bipolar disorder, cyclothymia, and adjustment disorder. Depression may also result from substance abuse or from the physiological conditions associated with a medical disorder, such as spinal or head injury, AIDS, or cancer.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Pregabalin (Lyrica) just became the first medication approved by the FDA for fibromyalgia-related pain, but it may not work for everyone, so older treatments may still be useful.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ramelteon reduces mean latency to persistent sleep by 50% or more in a significant percentage of patients when compared with placebo. No significant next-day residual or adverse effects were seen.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Both behavioral and medication interventions have their place in treatment of insomnia.

INDIANAPOLIS -- A pilot study suggests that patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes should be evaluated for sleep quality, and in those with sleep problems, pain should be assessed as a major contributor.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has approved pregabalin (Lyrica) for the treatment of fibromyalgia, making it the first drug to earn this indication.

INDIANAPOLIS -- More than a third of U.S. adults report problems falling asleep or daytime sleepiness, and lack of sleep is linked to one in five serious motor vehicle accidents.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Each person metabolizes food differently, so the diet that works for one person won't work for another.

LEICESTER, England -- Infants with at least one parent who smoked had 5.5 times higher urine levels of cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine, than babies of nonsmoking parents, researchers here reported.

CLEVELAND -- Neither age nor Medicare status should be determinants for gastric bypass surgery, researchers here found.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Sleep paralysis is common among Mexican adolescents, researchers reported here.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The experimental hypnotic NG2-73 appears to get people to sleep rapidly and allows them to awaken alert and refreshed, researchers said here.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Men and women dream about sex more than 8% of the time, revealed diaries.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Multiple measurements of a good night's sleep appear to be improved with the experimental anti-insomniac EVT 201, researchers said here.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- When arthritis patients took extended release morphine sulfate (Avinza) on awakening, they got to sleep more easily at night and slept better and longer, researchers found.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Sleep specialists here reviewed the problems and alternatives for treating insomnia.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Insomnia among men was an apparent sequel to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, researchers said here.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Despite disappointing performance in clinical trials, anti-insomnia drugs that improve short-wave sleep may still have a role in helping people get a good night's rest, a specialist predicted here.

CINCINNATI -- For treating the chronic pain and other symptoms of fibromyalgia, the anticonvulsant gabapentin (Neurontin) proved safe and effective, researchers here reported.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Poor sleepers may be too tired during the day to eat properly, according to researchers here.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Four out of 10 police officers may be working with sleep abnormalities, researchers said here.

SAN FRANCISCO -- After a 43-year-old woman returned from Peru with fever and an enlarged spleen, researchers here have identified a previously unknown pathogen related to those that cause trench fever and cat-scratch fever.

BOSTON -- In a discovery that may explain the successes of the Atkins diet, investigators have found that a single hormone may switch on the use of stored fat for fuel when all else fails.

SEATTLE -- Women whose sexual desire diminishes during menopause are more likely to report disturbed sleep, night sweats, and depression, researchers here reported.

PHILADELPHIA -- Seven out of 10 patients with chronic insomnia never talk with their doctors about it. Instead, they self-medicate with over-the-counter medicines or alcohol.