Before I came down with the crud, I was happy to once again stand behind the podium at the Carnegie Institute and teach some of the students about Sleep Medicine. This is something that I did last year and I was thrilled to be asked back again.

I spoke to the students of the Electroneurodiagnostic Technologist (EEG) Program. Last year the class was about 10-15 people. This year’s group was a bit smaller, but they were very interested in what I was presenting.

EEG and Sleep Medicine have a lot of similarities. We both look at brain waves, however, in sleep we look at respiratory as well. Last week I presented what our studies look like in comparison to what theirs look like. We compared the equipment that both EEG and Sleep techs use. And we talked about some neurology stuff.

The first week is mostly review for them, with a lot of new sleep stuff thrown in. They found it interesting and asked a lot of questions. The second week’s presentation, however, is my favorite. I get to spend the time going over the various sleep disorders. They always find these fascinating.

Naturally, I will talk about the types of sleep apnea. That’s our main thing in the lab. Then I get to talk about narcolepsy and the various symptoms that go with it. We’ll talk about Restless Leg Syndrome and REM Behavior Disorder, too. Those are the common ones. It’s the rest that really get a lot of interaction.

If you are ever interested in reading about some of the really crazy ones, I highly recommend the book by Dr. Carlos Schenck – it’s called Sleep.

Sleepwalking is a fun one to talk about. So is Sleep Related Eating Disorder! There are some really crazy videos on YouTube that will leave you speechless. You did read the cover correctly – there really is a sleep disorder called sexomnia!! Oh, and Exploding Head Syndrome sounds cooler than it is!

I’m looking forward to being able to teach again this Wednesday. I’m just glad that I am feeling good enough to be able to do it. I’ll have a bag of cough drops and lots of water with me … just in case!

I truly hope that I can continue to be a part of their EEG learning a week or two each year. It is a lot of fun for me.