If you have trouble falling asleep at night, you may be one of the 30 percent of adults who suffers from insomnia. According to James A. Rowley, a professor of internal medicine at Wayne State University, causes include stress at home and/or work, or a stressful life event such as the death of a loved one, an upcoming exam, or a big move. Other common reasons include an irregular sleep/wake pattern, excessive alcohol use, and drinking caffeinated beverages or smoking before bed.

A Chesterfield Township senior living community is welcoming medical students from Wayne State University as part of a pilot program aimed at offering educational opportunities for both residents and physicians in training. The Village of East Harbor is one of four Presbyterian Villages of Michigan sites selected to take part in the program. Physicians in training from the Wayne State University School of Medicine are invited to the facilities for an overnight stay to learn about the challenges of aging and experience the qualities exhibited by elderly patients. Students provide educational opportunities on fall prevention, strength and balance exercises, properly managing medications, regular vision checks and how to make their living environments safer.

Wayne State University announced this week that its program, the Michigan Area Health Education Center , has received $1.1 million from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

"This is a part of Wayne State Medical School's social mission," said Dr. Jennifer Mendez, the medical school's director of co-curricular programs and assistant professor of internal medicine. "It is a way for our students to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life situations." The Wayne State students also formed an organization to support Auntie Na's this year after being inspired during volunteer efforts during the last school year. It includes about 20 members.

Researchers from Wayne State University’s School of Medicine say some non-traditional forms of treatment are helping lessen the mental impact of the Syrian civil war on refugees.

Wayne State University researchers are working with a refugee resettlement agency on efforts that aim to ease anxiety, depression and stress among Syrian refugees in the Detroit area. The Wayne State School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences has developed the project with Samaritas, the state's largest resettlement organization. The program includes a dance class for children, art therapy for teenagers and yoga for women. Organizers say incorporating art, movement and mindfulness seeks to help refugees deal with emotions and trauma. They cite the importance of such programs in a state that has taken in the second-highest number of Syrian refugees coming to the U.S.

Research conducted at the Wayne State University School of Medicine has helped confirm the effectiveness of a blood biomarker that can indicate if patients with a head injury can avoid a costly CT scan because the blood test results indicate no traumatic brain injury (TBI). The findings, published online in The Lancet Neurology on July 24, validated the use of a diagnostic blood test developed by Banyan Biomarkers Inc. to rule out the need for a head CT scan in patients 18 years and older with suspected TBI.

Many forms of childhood cancers have gone from being a death sentence to a curable disease. Thanks to advances in treatments, the overall survival rate for childhood cancers has increased from 10% a few decades ago to nearly 90% today. This means that by the year 2020, an estimated half a million survivors of childhood cancer will be living in the U.S. With more children surviving, though, it has become increasingly clear that cancer and the subsequent treatments, such as chemo or radiation therapy, can have long-term negative effects that extend beyond physical problems such as hair loss, pain, and physical disability. Indeed, similar to “chemo brain” in adults, childhood cancer and its treatment may have harmful effects on brain development, causing problems with attention, memory, and language, and also leading to depression and anxiety. Based on studies using neuroimaging to examine brain structure and function also suggest that the treatments that are needed to save children’s lives can also be harmful to neural development.

It’s been two decades since doctors fully recognized that breathing that stops and starts during sleep is tied to a host of health issues, even early death, but there still isn’t a treatment that most people find easy to use. Airway pressure masks, the most common remedy, have improved in design, getting smaller and quieter, but patients still complain about sore nostrils, dry mouths and claustrophobia. Now, new ways of conquering sleep apnea, and the explosive snoring that comes with it, are vying for a place in the bedrooms of millions of people craving a good night’s sleep. Products range from a $350 restraint meant to discourage back sleeping to a $24,000 surgical implant that pushes the tongue forward with each breath. Mouthpieces, fitted by dentists, work for some people but have their own problems, including jaw pain. Some patients try surgery, but it often doesn’t work. Doctors recommend weight loss, but diet and exercise can be challenging for people who aren’t sleeping well. Researchers are now focused on how to get people to use a mask more faithfully and predicting who is likely to abandon it and could start instead with a dental device. For specialists, the first-choice, most-studied remedy remains continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP - a motorized device that pumps air through a mask to open a sleeper’s airway. About 5 million Americans have tried CPAP, but up to a third gave up during the first several years because of discomfort and inconvenience. “It’s the bane of my existence as a sleep doctor,” said Dr. James Rowley of Wayne State University in Detroit. “A lot of what sleep doctors do in the first few months after diagnosis is help people be able to use their CPAP.”

Karen Knopper, founder of Pet Suite Retreat, an animal boarding facility, has pledged $1.9 million to Wayne State University’s School of Medicine in Detroit. Knopper helped her father run Danny’s Markets, a Detroit grocery store.“I’m doing what my father would have done,” says Knopper. “There’s just such a need for philanthropy in Detroit.” Knopper is honoring her parents’ legacy through the Knopper Family Endowed Chair and the Knopper Family Endowed Research Fund in the School of Medicine. Together, the gifts will support research endeavors in the department of ophthalmology, visual, and anatomical sciences.

With the help of a $1.54 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, a research team from Wayne State University will establish a targeted approach to sustain cardiac function during an energetic crisis and heart failure. Led by Jian-Ping Jin, M.D., Ph.D., professor and William D. Traitel Endowed Chair of Physiology in the School of Medicine at Wayne State, the research team has focused on the area of protein structure-function relationships, particularly on protein engineering to improve muscle and heart functions.

Co-developed in 2011 by Sarah Draugelis and two of her WSU classmates, Team fEMR is now used by at least five medical relief organizations, including doctors and students at Wayne State with the World Health Student Organization (WHSO) and International Samaritans of Ann Arbor.

A new study shows that many cities will see a shortage of obstetricians and gynecologists by 2020, and Detroit is ranked the sixth highest on that list. By 2050, the study is predicting a shortfall of doctors in that field. “Not surprised,” said Doug Skrzyniarz, associate vice president of Government Health Affairs at Wayne State University.

Wayne State University is gathering partners to determine the scope of a multi-pronged effort to improve cardiovascular health in Detroit and is spearheading the plan with a $1 million donation.

The U.S. government declared a national public health emergency in October 2017 to address the opioid addiction crisis. More than six months later, the country is still in the throes of the crisis, with no sight in end.

As a society, we often wax eloquent about how important it is to nurture, support and protect our children. The sad reality, however, is that all too often major, life-changing decisions are made without any consideration of their potential lifelong and devastating impact on kids.

Our research team, Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic STARC at Wayne State University, has been exploring the psychological impact of traumatic experiences in Syrian adult and children refugees. 

It may be time for your child to have his tonsils removed, explains Dr. Bianca Siegel, an ENT at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and an assistant professor of otolaryngology at Wayne State University. 

There’s a growing concern about HIV in Detroit. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services more than 11,000 people are living in metro Detroit with HIV and more than 40 percent of them are in Detroit. Nearly 5,000 people live in Detroit with HIV. 

After what is often years of waiting and paperwork, some refugees from desperate situations around the world are fortunate enough to be accepted into the U.S. But then what? If you’ve been in a war-torn area or are a victim of torture, you’re glad to be safe.