SleepdB is a multidisciplinary team which is dedicated to understanding the pathophysiology of sleep-related breathing disorders and the development of novel technologies for improved management of these disorders. Over four million Canadians live with a chronic respiratory disease such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or sleep apnea. Respiratory diseases are among the top reasons for hospitalizations, long-term morbidity and death and account for 6.5% of total health care costs ($12.5B per year). Importantly, rates of these diseases are rising as the population ages and become more sedentary. A feature common to several respiratory diseases is that their symptoms, e.g. dyspnea, worsen during sleep. Most emergency visits and deaths related to asthma and COPD occur during the night. However, our understanding of the mechanisms of respiratory disorders exacerbation at night is limited; which consequently challenges our ability to manage these disorders.
Our research has two main themes:
- To investigate the pathophysiology of sleep-related breathing disorders including obstructive sleep apnea and nocturnal asthma
- To develop convenient, accurate, and portable devices to monitor physiological signals during sleep
As part of the Sleep Science Team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, our research will lead to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic respiratory disorders during sleep, will help create new therapies, and develop new portable devices to accurately diagnose these disorders in a convenient and affordable manner.
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