Sleep Studies Determine Sleep Disorders in Patients with Epilepsy: Milena Pavlova, MD

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“It is important to know exactly what we are aiming to measure and what we are we going to do with this information. The purpose of a sleep study, usually is to determine a very specific sleep disorder and in the case of home sleep tests, that is exclusively sleep apnea.”

Sleep studies have been done using devices, for example, wearable devices such as the Fitbit, for monitoring patterns of sleep in patients. The link between sleep and epilepsy may be further investigated through sleep studies as improving the sleep health of these patients could potentially reduce the frequency of seizures.

At the 2022 American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting, held December 2 to 6, in Nashville, Tennessee, Milena Pavlova, MD, participated in a special lecture that focused on the relationship between sleep and epilepsy. Her talk during the session centered on sleep and epilepsy in adults while the other presentors spoke on behalf of the various stages of life.

At the meeting, Pavlova, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and neurologist at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, spoke about the process of conducting sleep studies for patients with epilepsy in an interview with NeurologyLive^®. She talked about the current role that devices play in monitoring sleep of patients and how they may be used in the future.

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REFERENCES
1. Pavlova M. Sleep and Epilepsy in Adults. Presented at: AES Annual Meeting; December 2-6, 2022; Nashville, TN, and virtual. Special Lecture.