Cognitive behavioral therapy should be the first course of treatment in adults with chronic insomnia, according to a recently published AASM clinical practice guideline. This episode features Dr. Jennifer Martin, a clinical psychologist and co-author of the guideline, discussing the effectiveness of CBT-I, and why both physicians and patients should be aware that it’s an option. She also talks about the challenges of sleep during the pandemic, why melatonin isn’t the answer, and why consumer wearables may do more harm than good.

In this episode, we explore how sleep modulates the immune system, affecting our ability to ward off infections and develop antibodies. Our guest is Dr. Aric Prather, a clinical health psychologist and associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, who has done extensive research on the relationship between sleep and immunity.

Telemedicine is changing the way sleep medicine is taught and practiced. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Barry Fields, a sleep physician at the Atlanta VA Health System and member of the AASM Telemedicine Presidential Committee. He shares AASM telemedicine resources and offers guidance on how to make the most of telemedicine in the clinic and the classroom.

Season 3 begins with a conversation with Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine Editor-in-Chief Dr. Nancy Collop on the 15th anniversary of the journal. A special anniversary collection highlights some of the most significant original research articles published in JCSM along with new commentaries from today’s experts on the lasting impact of the research. Review the complete collection and listen as Drs. Collop and Khosla discuss some of the papers and how they have impacted the practice of sleep medicine.

In the year’s final episode of Talking Sleep, Dr. Asha Singh of the AASM Coding and Compliance Committee highlights changes to evaluation and management codes coming in 2021. Providers and office staff need to be aware of the updates, which include options to bill based on total time or medical decision-making. AASM members also can view this free E/M coding webinar for more information.

This episode of Talking Sleep features Dr. Rami Khayat, a leading central sleep apnea researcher. Dr. Khayat discusses the challenges in scoring, diagnosing and treating CSA and why it’s important to test for it in heart failure patients. He also describes a current clinical trial studying the impact of low-flow oxygen on patients with CSA and heart failure.

Race and place have far-reaching consequences for sleep health. In this episode of Talking Sleep, Dr. Dayna Johnson, a sleep epidemiologist at Emory University, explains her research into the social and environmental factors that contribute to sleep health disparities as well as the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on minorities. She also discusses how the sleep medicine community can take action to improve health equity, raise awareness of sleep benefits and improve access to care.

Energy conservation and candy consumption are just two reasons the U.S. has implemented or extended daylight saving time. But evidence shows the twice-yearly time change has detrimental effects on our health and safety, especially when we “spring forward.” In this episode of Talking Sleep, we talk with Dr. M. Adeel Rishi, vice chair of the AASM Public Safety Committee and lead author of the Academy’s position statement calling for the elimination of daylight saving time to learn why “falling back” to permanent standard time is best for optimal health.

The AIRE program is a new approach to offering fellowships in sleep medicine using a competency-based curriculum and uniform evaluation tools. In this episode of Talking Sleep, we discuss the AIRE program with several guests, including program directors and fellows. Participants in the AIRE fellowship can complete their sleep training as part of a blended or parttime program, with the goal of increasing the number of sleep specialists.

Updated in early 2020, the AASM Manual for the Scoring of Sleep and Associated Events is the definitive resource for the evaluation of sleep tests. In this episode of Talking Sleep, our correspondent Dr. Robert Vorona talks with Drs. Richard Berry and Stuart Quan of the AASM Scoring Manual Committee for insight into some of the changes.