SLEEP 2007 kicked off June 11 in Minneapolis. This year’s attendance of some 5,800 sleep physicians, researchers and technicians was the largest to date.
The conference’s presenters laid out more than 1,100 new findings and medical developments related to sleep and sleep disorders, including insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements. In the exhibit hall, 140 manufacturers exhibited new products and services.
Parasomnia expert Dr. Mark Mahowald gave the keynote address, in which he suggested that all sleep disorders can be linked with parasomnias — undesirable physical phenomena during sleep that involve skeletal muscle activity or autonomic nervous system changes.
Mahowald discussed his research in the disorders that manifest in between the three major sleep stages — awake, REM sleep, and non-REM sleep, parasomnia being one of these.
Mahowald also emphasized the importance of sleep specialists paying close attention to what patients’ verbal reports; patient interviews are essential for findings of scientific value to emerge from sleep studies, he said.
Other highlights from the show: