Improving Awareness of Sleep Disorders Among General Public: Michael Thorpy, MD

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"Educators need to be aware when a child is exhibiting some symptom of a sleep disorder. Too often that’s passed off by the thought that they may be just a little sleep deprived, which may be why they’re sleepy during the day."

In recent years, there has been a push from the medical system to get patients educated on important healthy lifestyle decisions that may ultimately keep them out of harm’s way down the road. Included in those is sleep, which has become more stressed throughout clinical care; however, the public knowledge and awareness about sleep disorders remains low. There are a handful of these disorders patients may experience from too, including insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, excessive daytime sleepiness, and REM sleep behavior disorder.

According to Michael Thorpy, MD, the general public needs to be more aware of the societal factors that can interfere with sleep. Thorpy, director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center, noted that if patients take steps to prioritize their sleep, they will be at a substantially lower risk of developing any ongoing disorders. He also stressed that education for these disorders should be provided for children, considering how common they are in this patient population.

NeurologyLive®caught up with Thorpy to get his expertise on the overall need to improve awareness of sleep disorders across patients and clinicians, as well as the importance of early recognition of these disorders.