Talks：

Treatment of insomnia involving circadian rhythm factors

Name：

Leon Lack

Position：

Emeritus Professor in Psychology

Affiliation：

Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health/Flinders Centre for Research Excellence The Flinders University of South Australia Australia

Email：

Leon.lack@flinders.edu.au

Photo：

Research Interests：

Sleep/wake interactions; circadian rhythms and disorders; bright light treatment of circadian rhythm disorders; napping; non-drug insomnia treatments; insomnia/OSA co-morbidity; devices for sleep disorder treatments

Selected Publications：

◆ Wright, H. and Lack, L. (2015). How to sleep better, eBook. Available free at: http://re-timer.com/the-product/how-to-sleep-better/ ◆ Lack, L.C. & Wright, H.R. (2012). Circadian rhythm disorders 1: Phase-advanced & phase-delayed disorders. In C. Espie & C. Morin (Eds.). Oxford Handbook on Sleep and Sleep Disorders. Oxford University Press. Pp 597-625. ◆ Sweetman A, Lack L, Lambert S, Gradisar M, Harris J. (2017). Does comorbid obstructive sleep apnea impair the effectiveness of cognitive and behavioral therapy for insomnia? Sleep Medicine 39: 38-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2017.09.003. ◆ Sweetman A, Lack L, Catcheside P, Antic N, Chai-Coetzer C, Smith S, Douglas J, McEvoy RD. (2016). Developing a Successful Treatment for Co-morbid Insomnia and Sleep Apnea. Sleep Medicine Reviews 33, 28-38. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2016.04.004 ◆ Micic G, Lovato N, Gradisar M, Burgess HJ, Ferguson SA, Lack L. (2016). Circadian melatonin and temperature taus in Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder and Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Rhythm Disorder patients: an ultradian constant routing study. Journal of Biological Rhythms 31(4): 387-405. Doi: 10.1177/0748730416650069

Abstract：

Circadian rhythms have a strong influence on the timing of our alertness and sleepiness across the 24-hour day/night. If the timing of these rhythms is later than normal it can contribute to sleep onset insomnia. If the timing is earlier than normal it can lead to early morning awakening insomnia. Therefore, management of these types of insomnia need to include treatments, such as bright light and melatonin, that will re-time the circadian rhythms to be more in synchrony with the desired timing of sleep. Sleep onset insomnia would benefit from morning light therapy and early evening melatonin administration while early morning awakening insomnia benefits from late evening bright light therapy and possibly early morning melatonin administration. Chronic insomnia from any precipitating cause will most likely have a behavioral or learned component that should be addressed with cognitive/behavioral therapy. Thus insomnia usually has multifactorial causes needing a multi-faceted therapeutic approach.