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In this episode, "Differentiating Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut: Diagnosis, Research, and What’s Ahead," Joyce Lee-Iannotti, MD, PhD, division chief of both the Stroke Center and the Comprehensive Sleep Center at Barrow Neurological Institute, discusses her presentation from the 2025 SLEEP Annual Meeting focused on the glymphatic system’s role in stroke. She outlines the science behind this brain-cleansing pathway, its dependence on sleep quality, and how its dysfunction may worsen outcomes in both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Lee-Iannotti also details practical, evidence-backed strategies for optimizing glymphatic clearance—from sleep posture and sleep apnea treatment to emerging pharmacologic options like orexin antagonists. In addition, she highlights major gaps in clinician awareness and offers calls to action for improving sleep assessments in stroke care.

Episode Breakdown:

1:00 – Overview of the glymphatic system and its relevance in stroke care

2:55 – Evidence linking sleep quality and glymphatic activity in stroke prevention and recovery

7:40 – Neurology News Minute

10:05 – Potential interventions: pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches to enhance glymphatic function

13:10 – Raising clinical awareness of sleep’s role in stroke and neurologic disease management

The stories featured in this week's Neurology News Minute, which will give you quick updates on the following developments in neurology, are further detailed here:

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