Clinical Update Sleep: Life Eessentials and NHS England ‘Optimal Sleep Pathway’

Following the pandemic years, it is a particular pleasure to be able to meet again in person for the 6^th Clinical Update Sleep at the Royal College of Physicians in London. We have lined up the previously proven parallel programme which addresses all areas of interest in Sleep Medicine.

Some of the topical sessions will be dedicated to sleep-disordered breathing, which seems to be more prevalent than previously estimated (1). An accurate estimate of the number of cases that remain undiagnosed or untreated cases is essential and it is thought that about 1 billion people worldwide are affected by obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) (2). Recently, the American Heart Association included Sleep as one of its “Life Essential 8” for optimal cardiovascular health (3). One of the sessions will be dedicated to sleep apnoea and hypertension presenting the latest results from the worldwide ANDANTE (4) collaboration, while another one will present non-continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapies with the first international evidence-based guidelines (5,6).

We are pleased to also present a session dedicated to insomnia, which continues to cause widespread problems with poor sleep, particularly exacerbated by the pandemic (7), and adversely affects quality of life (8). The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have recently approved several innovative treatments for insomnia, including the first health app (NICE MTG70) (9) and the oral dual orexin receptor antagonists (NICE GID-TA10888) (10). Further sessions will focus on the latest evidence on symptom control and clinical outcomes in sleep disorders, as well as parasomnias and circadian rhythm disorders.

The British Sleep Society (BSS) will host a symposium discussing clinical academic integration (Figure 1) with experiences from the past, present, and insights into the future of sleep medicine. The session will also include details affecting the future National Health Service (NHS) structure, teaching and training in sleep medicine within UK sleep laboratories, and will include details of the NHS England ‘Optimal Sleep Pathway’. In parallel, the day will conclude with the hot topic and clinical trial session, providing the latest insights into ongoing trials and novel data from British and international studies. All sessions have been designed with a multi-professional focus and will provide plenty of time for questions and interaction with faculty and other delegates.

Figure 1 Integration of clinical and academic pathway for OSA. OSA, obstructive sleep apnoea; PT, physiological trait; MDT, multidisciplinary team; RCT, randomized control trial.

So join us at the Royal College Friday 10^th February 2023 for an exciting event. We look forward to meeting you again in person to have lively discussions about the future of sleep.

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the editorial office, Journal of Thoracic Disease for the series “Clinical Update Sleep 2023”. The article did not undergo external peer review.

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jtd-23-82/coif). The series “Clinical Update Sleep 2023” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. JS serves as the unpaid Guest Editor of the series and an unpaid editorial board member of Journal of Thoracic Disease. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

References

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