2024 Clinical Preview for Emerging Trends in Sleep Disorders: Mark I. Boulos, MD, BSc, FRCP, CSCN, MSc

WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

"I'm particularly excited this year about the novel oral therapies that are coming out for treating sleep apnea. It will be cool to see if these oral medications have promise in not only treating sleep apnea, but in stroke, dementia and other various neurological populations.”

In 2024, clinicians in sleep medicine anticipate the latest updates in research and the pending of approval for therapies in sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea, cataplexy, narcolepsy, insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, and others. The field of sleep disorders is cross-disciplinary challenged, requiring the collaboration of healthcare professionals to build a solid framework for diagnosis and treatment.¹ Although growing research has provided clinicians with more understanding of sleep disorders, researchers suggest that several trends are dominated by outdated paradigms.

According to a previous review published in Frontiers in Neurology, researchers highlighted that the evolution of diagnosis and treatments in sleep medicine has a continuous push and pull between several forces.¹ Despite previously failed trials, the research has contributed to a better understanding of the condition, leading to updated treatment guidelines. In addition, the different specialties in sleep disorders may sometimes intertwine with other neurological disorders and thus increase the knowledge of those conditions as well.

Recently, Mark I. Boulos, MD, BSc, FRCP, CSCN, MSc, associate professor, department of medicine, division of neurology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, sat down in an interview with NeurologyLive® to share his clinical perspective on potential therapies in sleep disorders for 2024. He talked about how novel oral therapies could change the treatment landscape for sleep apnea as an alternative option for those who are intolerant to other treatments. Boulos also spoke about how ongoing trials exploring cannabis and neurostimulation may also potentially change the therapeutic landscape for restless leg syndrome. Furthermore, he shared how upcoming studies may hold the key to understanding whether sleep apnea treatment can significantly reduce the risk of future strokes and improve overall mortality.

REFERENCES
1. Parrino L, Halasz P, Szucs A, et al. Sleep medicine: Practice, challenges and new frontiers. Front Neurol. 2022;13:966659. Published 2022 Oct 14. doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.966659