Follow Elsevier Author Dr. Meir Kryger’s blog, Sleep and Be Well, on Psychology Today where he explores the intersections of sleep medicine, psychology and psychiatry and their manifestations in our sleeping and waking life.  Sleep disorders often result in abnormal mental function and behaviors, while psychological and psychiatric disorders can in turn cause sleep problem. Dr. Kryger will share new insights each month on this topic and cover trends, current events, and research related to the field of sleep medicine and psychology.

Visit Dr. Kryger’s Elsevier Authors bio page to learn more about his background and his leading sleep medicine textbooks, Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine, Kryger’s Sleep Medicine Review, and Atlas of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Check out Dr. Kryger’s first article, A SAD Tale, which discusses symptoms and therapies for people suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder.

It’s not every day that one of our Elsevier Authors is featured in Times Square. Congrats Dr. Meir Kryger!

With the days getting shorter and the winter solstice quickly approaching, we tapped into the medical expertise of Elsevier Author, Meir Kryger, MD, to gain some insight on  Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a condition that affects up to 10% to 20% of the population. Dr. Kryger is a professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and editor of several leading books on sleep medicine, including the core text in the field, Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine.

Throughout the winter months, many people will suffer recurrent episodes consistent with SAD mood swings, which includes low energy, irritability, weight gain, and overeating. According to Dr. Kryger, climate, genetic vulnerability, and sociocultural factors all play a role in this very real mood disorder.

“Seasonal Affective Disorder is a mood disturbance, but unlike typical symptoms of major depression, patients often experience increased appetite for carbohydrates, weight gain, and increased sleep duration,” Kryger says.

Symptoms of SAD often recur annually but people who are affected should not be without hope. Treatments such as phototherapy and timed light exposure can be used to prevent the biologic changes that mediate SAD, such as increased levels of melatonin.

“Timed light exposure can help shift the body’s circadian system to treat both sleep phase and depressive disorders. In winter depression, the optimal timing of light therapy must be specified relative to the patient’s circadian clock rather than solar time. Light exposure is more effective than placebo treatment when light is administered in the evening or in the morning. However, it appears that morning exposure is more effective than evening exposure,” adds Dr. Kryger.

Read more about Dr. Meir Kryger and his textbook by visiting Dr. Kryger’s Elsevier Authors page. To read the full article on SAD, visit Reuters.

Dr. Meir Kryger, an Elsevier Author and a Yale University professor of medicine, took some time to answer questions from the Winnipeg Free Press on the importance of getting quality sleep.  According to the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the National Institutes of Health, 10 to 15 percent of adults have chronic insomnia. Another root of sleep deprivation: People simply don’t make sleep a priority, says Kryger who, during his three decades in Winnipeg, treated 15,000 Manitobans with sleep disorders, many of them life-threatening.

Dr. Kryger is a sleep specialist who founded Winnipeg’s cutting-edge St. Boniface General Hospital Sleep Disorders Clinic in the early 1990s. He is also the author of several sleep medicine textbooks, including Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine which is used by sleep doctors around the world. Learn more about Dr. Kryger and his textbook by visiting Dr. Kryger’s Elsevier Authors page.

Read more about Dr. Kryger’s insights on sleep at the Winnipeg Free Press.

Dr. William C. Dement, an Elsevier Author of sleep medicine, was recently featured in the New York Times. He shared his insights on what he’s been reading, watching, and listening to recently… and even a tip on how to wake up sleepy students!

For more information on on Dr. Dement and his textbook, Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine, 5th Edition, visit Dr. Dement’s Elsevier Authors page.

And, visit the New York Times online for the full article.