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Researching Sleep Disorders
A good night’s sleep would be a dream come true for many
patients who visit Carle Clinic’s Regional Sleep Disorders
Center. Problems ranging from sleep apnea to sleep
deprivation to Restless Legs Syndrome impact the lives and
health of countless Americans each day, but COM-UC faculty
in the Sleep Disorders Center are working to change that.
The work of Daniel Picchietti, M.D., and Shalu
Manchanda, M.D., provides one such example. Dr. Picchietti,
director of the Sleep Disorders Center and a COM-UC clinical
associate professor, has a busy clinical practice and is actively
involved in research to assist children and adults with sleep
disorders. Dr. Manchanda, a research assistant professor of
internal medicine and attending physician in the intensive
care unit at Carle Foundation Hospital, studied with
Dr. Picchietti while she prepared for her board certification
in sleep medicine and has now joined him in conducting
research at the Center.
Their specific collaboration focuses on finding a more
efficient tool for diagnosis of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS),
a condition that affects an estimated 5% to 15% of the
population. Patients with RLS have an irresistible sensation
to move their legs, which interferes with sleep onset. In
addition, 85% of those who have RLS also suffer from
periodic limb movements, a condition in which a patient’s
sleep is disturbed in association with limb jerks that may
occur repeatedly during the night.
Currently, Dr. Picchietti and Dr. Manchanda are using a toe
sensor unit in the laboratory and testing it against the gold
standard diagnostic tool, the all-night polysomnogram, to test
for leg jerks. According to Dr. Manchanda, it’s research that
holds promise. “Our collaboration is only in its beginning
stages,” she says. “But we hope to see success in the form
of a less expensive outpatient tool, which could mean quicker
diagnosis and thus faster relief for patients.”
Problems ranging from
sleep apnea to sleep
deprivation to Restless Legs
Syndrome impact the lives
and health of countless
Americans each day, but
COM-UC faculty in the
Sleep Disorders Center are
working to change that.
Shalu Manchanda, M.D., and Daniel Picchietti, M.D.
T h e P o w e r o f C o l l a b o r a t i o n
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