As the premier scientific and clinical meeting in the sleep field, SLEEP 2014 captured the attention of both national news outlets and local media in Minneapolis. Local coverage included CBS radio and TV interviews with AASM President Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler. WCCO-TV reporter John Lauritsen visited the SLEEP 2014 exhibit hall to find out how much sleep adults really need.

Most of the SLEEP 2014 news coverage focused on interesting findings reported by some of the 1,100 research abstracts presented at the meeting. TODAY news anchor Natalie Morales put the spotlight on a study suggesting that couples are more likely to sleep in sync when the wife is more satisfied with their marriage. 

Other abstracts that gained significant media attention include studies examining the contribution of circadian factors to suicide, showing that the impact of sleep problems on college students’ grade point average (GPA) is similar to that of binge drinking and marijuana use, and demonstrating that CPAP therapy can rapidly improve blood pressure and arterial tone in adults with obstructive sleep apnea.

Several publications for health care professionals also sent reporters to cover the meeting. You can read extensive coverage of SLEEP 2014 research from Neurology Reviews, Family Practice News and Medscape Medical News.

Family Practice News also reported on the AASM Political Action Committee breakfast, which was held Tuesday, June 3, and featured a keynote address by U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn. Topics of discussion included the AASM Seniors Sleep initiative and the recent legislation sleep apnea screening bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.