President of the Spanish Federation of Sleep Medicine Societies (FESMES), coordinator of the Alianza del Sueño Healthcare Group, and Head of the Pulmonology Department and the Sleep Unit at Osakidetza. Bioaraba Institute
A research team presents a wireless polygraph – colloquially known as a “lie detector” – that attaches to the chest to diagnose stress in adults and sleep disorders in children. According to the study, published in Science Advances, the device is able to identify episodes of waking, hypopnoea and apnoea in children.
A team from the United States has analyzed nearly twenty studies on melatonin use in children between the ages of 0 and 6 in different countries. Although it appears that melatonin can help improve sleep onset in children with neurological conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, the data indicate that in recent years there has been an increase in sales of these products without a clear understanding of their actual effectiveness and potential long-term consequences for typically developing young children. The results are published in JAMA Network Open.
Taking melatonin supplements to treat insomnia for more than a year is associated with an increased risk of heart failure—including an increase in hospitalisations and mortality—within five years of use, according to a study presented at a conference of the American Heart Association. The study compared a group of 65,000 adults diagnosed with insomnia who had a prescription for melatonin with another group who did not have a prescription for this supplement.
Research published in the journal Hypertension has found an association between frequent naps and an increased risk of high blood pressure and stroke.