Somnology

Somnology is the scientific study of sleep. It includes clinical study and treatment of sleep disorders and irregularities. Sleep medicine is a subset of somnology. Somnology is the scientific study of sleep. It includes clinical study and treatment of sleep disorders and irregularities. Sleep medicine is a subset of somnology. After the invention of the EEG, the stages of sleep were determined in 1936 by Harvey and Loomis, the first descriptions of delta and theta waves were made by Walter and Dovey, and REM sleep was discovered in 1953. Sleep apnea was identified in 1965. In 1970, the first clinical sleep laboratory was developed at Stanford. The first actigraphy device was made in 1978 by Krupke, and continuous positive airway pressure therapy and uvulopalatopharyngoplasty were created in 1981. The Examination Committee of the Association of Sleep Disorders Centers, which is now the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, was established in 1978 and administered the sleep administration test until 1990. In 1989, the American Board of Sleep Medicine was created to administer the tests and eventually assumed all the duties of the Examination committee in 1991. In the United States, the American Board of Sleep Medicine grants certification for sleep medicine to both physicians and non-physicians. However, the board does not allow one to practice sleep medicine without a medical license. Created in 1990 by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (with assistance from European Sleep Research Society, the Japanese Society of Sleep Research, and the Latin American Sleep Society), the International Classification of Sleep Disorders is the primary reference for scientists and diagnosticians. Sleep disorders are separated into four distinct categories: parasomnias; dyssomnias; sleep disorders associated with mental, neurological, or other medical conditions; and sleep disorders that do not have enough data available to be counted as definitive sleep disorders. The ICSD has created a comprehensive description for each sleep disorder with the following information.