Conference helps health community wake up to sleep disorders

Sleep disorders are common and fascinating – but neglected. Having a sleep disorder can affect every aspect of life. Now a conference will give an insight into what causes these disorders and how they can be treated.  

Waking up to Sleep will be held in Exeter on April 22 at the Research, Innovation, Learning and Development (RILD) building. It is jointly run by a partnership between the University of Exeter Medical School and the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E).

It will cover disorders such as excessive daytime sleepiness (including narcolepsy), insomnia and ‘parasomnias’ - disturbances of behaviour during sleep, such as sleep-walking.

Professor Adam Zeman, of the University of Exeter Medical School, is co-organising the event, and said: “Sleep is part of all our lives, and when it goes wrong, it can have far-reaching consequences. We now know much more about sleep disorders than we used to, but this knowledge has been slow to permeate clinical practice. This conference will enable anyone who has an interest to learn more about why we can sleep too much or too little, or do odd things in the night. It will also update on the diagnosis and management of sleep disorders.”

The conference will cover sleep and young people, sleep and dementia, sleep and mood and interactions between drugs and sleep. It will include a keynote speech from national expert Professor Jim Horne, of Loughborough University, who will talk about sleep and safety, particularly in relation to driving and health.

For more information on Waking up to Sleep, visit the event web page.