Southlake Texas-based Low T Center, a physician-led group that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of low testosterone, has expanded its treatment services. Treatment services will now include: sleep apnea, low thyroid, hypertension, severe allergies, high cholesterol, diabetes, and annual physicals, along with testosterone replacement therapy.

“Historically, men don’t like going to the doctor and many men don’t go to the doctor even when they don’t feel well. We’ve made every effort to make it a better experience for them. By expanding services, we are improving patients’ experience by helping them with multiple aspects of their health. And for the thousands of men with symptoms that have come to Low T over the years but didn’t have low testosterone, now we can help,” says Mike Sisk, founder of Low T Center, in a release.

Low T Center’s physicians will take a holistic approach to treating patients with comprehensive health assessments that include complete lab panels and addressing patients’ symptoms and how they feel. “Our goal is to determine the underlying condition that is causing the patient to feel bad, and

In a study published in Respirology, investigators identified strong associations between several measures of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity and higher total cholesterol, higher LDL-cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, and lower HDL-cholesterol. Lipid status was influenced by geographical location with the highest total cholesterol concentration recorded in Northern Europe.

The analysis included 8,592 adults across Europe who were not diagnosed with hyperlipidemia and were not taking lipid-lowering drugs.

“Our data clearly suggest that sleep apnea may have a negative impact on lipid levels, which may in part explain the association between sleep apnea and increased risk for cardiovascular disease,” said senior author Dr Ludger Grote, of Gothenburg University, in Sweden, in a release. “Patients with sleep apnea therefore need careful management of all cardiovascular risk factors including hyperlipidema.”

Oral appliances for sleep apnea aren’t the only service that may be billable by dentists to patients’ medical insurance, reports The New York Times, but be aware that insurers are always on the lookout for abuse.

On its website, the California Dental Association explains that health insurance should cover costs that are “medically necessary” and lists more than a dozen categories of procedures that could qualify. Among them: treatment related to inflammation and infection, dental repair resulting from injury, certain periodontal surgery procedures and appliances for sleep apnea.

Get the full story at nytimes.com

A new study on sleep patterns suggests that a regular bedtime and wake time are just as important as sleep quantity in terms of heart and metabolic health among older adults.

In a study of 1,978 older adults published online Sept 21 by the journal Scientific Reports, researchers at Duke Health and the Duke Clinical Research Institute found people with irregular sleep patterns weighed more, had higher blood sugar, higher blood pressure, and a higher projected risk of having a heart attack or stroke within 10 years than those who slept and woke at the same times every day.

Irregular sleepers were also more likely to report depression and stress than regular sleepers, both of which are tied to heart health.

African-Americans had the most irregular sleep patterns compared to participants who were white, Chinese-American, or Hispanic, the data showed.

The findings show an association—not a cause-and-effect relationship—between sleep regularity and heart and metabolic health.

“From our study, we can’t conclude that sleep irregularity results in health risks, or whether health conditions affect sleep,” says Jessica Lunsford-Avery, PhD, an

Investigators have assessed the prevalence of treatable traits in severe asthma and have determined specific traits that are predictive of future asthma attacks. Their findings, which are published in Respirology, are the result of an extensive national collaborative study in Australia.

Ten traits predicted future asthma attacks, and the strongest were: being prone to exacerbations, depression, inhaler device polypharmacy, vocal cord dysfunction, and obstructive sleep apnea.

The findings may help clinicians develop individualized management strategies for patients with severe asthma.

“We report the higher burden experienced by patients with severe asthma compared to non-severe and importantly identify which treatable traits are predictive of future asthma attacks. This highlights the usefulness of the treatable traits approach in severe asthma and identifies important targets for treatment,” says lead author Vanessa McDonald, PhD, of the University of Newcastle, in a release.

CleveMed has unveiled an update to its web-based scoring and reporting software for SleepView home sleep apnea test equipment. The update provides physicians with a new simple reporting tool with capability to save common interpretation and treatment statements that are easily placed in the report for each patient. The company also says that the overall speed of the system has been improved in all aspects of data review, scoring, and reporting.

“We are excited to offer innovative software and services to meet the needs of sleep specialists. Our customizable reports and role-based account profiles make our web-based software offerings stand out from the competition, and provide sleep specialists tools to expand their practice and partner with referring providers in new ways,” says Sarah Weimer, CleveMed director of sleep services and products, in a release. “The cloud software includes the option to add SleepViewSM Direct service, with monitors mailed from CleveMed directly to patients, while maintaining scoring and interpretation of those studies by your sleep specialists. This will allow the sleep lab or specialists to easily service distant patients or prevent

In a study of 20 patients, scientists found that a combination of atomoxetine and oxybutynin reduces AHI, reports Science.

The trial turned up one potentially problematic finding: Although the drug combination reduced patients’ AHIs, their number of subconscious arousals—the subtle awakenings that leave patients exhausted—remained high.

Get the full story at www.sciencemag.org