Sleep Unplugged with Dr. Chris Winter

We’ve all seen it—or maybe we’ve been told we do it: twitching, jerking, or kicking in the night. But when does this common sleep quirk cross the line into a diagnosable condition? In this episode, we will:

• Define Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD) and explain how it differs from simple nighttime movements
• Explore its surprising prevalence in both adults and children—and its strong ties to Restless Legs Syndrome
• Review leading...

Did you know…

• Only 57% of Americans now say science has a mostly positive effect on society—down 16 points since before COVID?
• And yet, 83% of people still trust their doctor more than anyone else when it comes to vaccine advice?

We’ve all lived through it—the pandemic reshaped our health, our trust, and our divisions, and those dividisions have been on full display recently as hearings have highlighted a growing distrust in ...

When it comes to insomnia, many people begin their journey staring at the clock after yet another middle-of-the-night bathroom trip and wondering: is it my bladder or my sleep that’s broken? In this episode, we will:

• Define what nocturia is—and what counts as normal versus abnormal
• Explore why most people wake up first and then feel the urge to urinate
• Reveal how nocturia can be a surprising red flag for obstructive sleep apnea
• Dis...

We’ve all been there—different bed, strange noises, mystery thermostat settings—and suddenly your “dream” vacation or business trip comes with a side of sleeplessness. But hotel sleep doesn’t have to be a gamble. In this episode, we will:

• Explore why the “first night effect” sabotages rest in unfamiliar places
• Share 10 science-backed strategies to optimize any hotel room for sleep
• Learn how to manage temperature, light, and noise—...

Headaches don’t punch the clock at bedtime — in fact, for many, night is when they strike hardest. In this episode, we’ll:

• Explore how disrupted sleep can trigger and intensify migraines, cluster headaches, hypnic headaches, and chronic daily headache
• Examine the role of sleep apnea in “morning headaches” and how CPAP therapy can make them disappear
• Review the latest research linking insomnia treatment to reduced headache burden —...

At every medical appointment, certain rituals unfold: height, weight, blood pressure, and—almost reflexively—temperature. But in asymptomatic patients, how often does that temperature reading actually matter? In this episode, we will:

• Examine the origins of routine temperature checks and their current clinical value
• Explore data showing how infrequently temperature readings in well visits lead to meaningful outcomes
• Introduce the ...

We all think we know what insomnia is: trouble sleeping, tossing and turning, maybe staring at the ceiling until sunrise. But does the public really have a clear picture of insomnia and does that impact the massive health impact it has? In this episode, we will:

• Explain how insomnia is not a single problem but a progressive condition, starting with a few rough nights and, in some, developing into a chronic disorder
• Explore why in...

In our modern world of blue light and burnout, it’s easy to forget that sleep has always been shaped by the forces of its time. In this episode, we travel back to the Gilded Age—a period of dazzling progress, deep inequality, and curious beliefs about sleep. In thenis episode, we will:

• Explore how medical professionals in the late 19th century understood sleep—and misunderstood insomnia
• Learn what physicians were prescribing to s...

We’ve talked extensively about sleep and its science, but what happens when sleep becomes the story itself—on screen? Television has portrayed sleep, sleeplessness, and dreaming across decades of iconic storytelling. In this episode we will:

• Highlight classic TV episodes where sleep or sleep disorders play a central role
• Examine how sleep is portrayed in multiple genres
• Review how accurately sleep is represented in some of the mos...

We’ve explored sleep apnea in depth on the podcast—its causes, its severity, and the many ways it’s treated. But what happens when the sleepiness lingers, even after treatment? In this episode, we will:

• Define sleep apnea, what it is—and what it isn’t
• Learn how excessive daytime sleepiness is defined, both on its own and in the context of sleep apnea
• Review the most common and effective treatments for sleep apnea
• Explore how often ...

The Atlantic recently published a feature article entitled "Why Americans Can't Sleep." The article was written by Jennifer Senior, and fantastically accomplished writer (2022 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, the 2022 National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, and the 2024 National Magazine Award for Columns & Essays) and details not only her own personal struggles with insomnia, but also attempts to dive de...

Bruxism or teeth grinding is a remarkably common occurrence and often happens during our nightly sleep period, disrupting sleep quality and continuity. In this episode we will:

• Define bruxism
• Explore the epidemiology of the condition
• Look at some of the causes of teeth grinding
• Touch upon proposed mechanisms of bruxism
• Review recent bruxism research
• List common treatments for the condition

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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Weight loss drugs are everywhere and recently Zepbound (tirzepitide) made big news when it became the first FDA-approved sleep apnea therapy for mild to moderate sleep apnea. In this episode, we will:

• Introduce and explain weight loss medications
• Review the studies that convinced the FDA to approve Zepbound for sleep apnea
• Provide an overview on this class of weight loss medications
• Evaluate the risks and determine who is a best ma...

You are looking live at the Seattle Conference Center where sleep researchers from around the world are converging to carry around tote bags and share the latest and greatest sleep research. I was there and saw it all. In this episode we will:

• Discuss AI and its emerging role in sleep research
• Learn why napping continues to show positives in attention and performance
• Continue the focus on chrononutrition and how sleep and circadia...

So far on the podcast we had talked about sleep apnea as well as the treatments CPAP and surgery. On this episode of the podcast, we discuss another popular treatment option: oral appliances. In this episode we will:

• Review the pathophysiology of obstructive sleep apnea
• Outline the mechanism via which oral appliance work
• List the pros and cons of oral appliance for surgery
• Discuss how the oral appliance fits into the landscape of s...

One of the biggest obstacles in insomnia treatment is the perceived threat of physical harm related to the sleep difficulty. It's a major cog in the insomnia-fear-arousal cycle. In this episode we will:

• Utilize two case studies to illustrate the disruption that fear of harm causes with insomnia recovery
•  Discuss insomnia is a disorder of distress, not danger
• Talk about the lack of any evidence that acute sleep loss causes med...

When we did the snooze button episode of the podcast, it all started with a declaration that the snooze button was the worst thing for sleep. While it's fairly clear the snooze button is not, what is? In this episode, we list the top 10 worst things for sleep. In this episode we will:

• List what I believe the top ten worst things for sleep are
• Provide a nugget of research to back it up
• This will be a dynamic list that we will ...

Sweating at night is a common complaint in the sleep clinic. While night sweats are often thought of as being the exclusive domain of post-menopausal women, their causes can be surprisingly varied. In this episode we will:

• Review the epidemiology of night sweats
• List the cause both benign and more concerning
• Discuss how night sweats specifically impact sleep quality and architecture
• Review interventions to help with the problem

When it comes to symptoms that cause us to seek medical help, there are few that top pain. Pain occupies a unique space within the world of sleep, in particular back, neck, and shoulder pain. In this episode we will:

• Provide an overview of sleep-related pain
• Explore the relationship between sleep disturbances and pain
• Learn how sleep disturbances can be a strong predictor of the development of pain
• Examine studies linking REM sleep...