Hanna Radio | The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau - Episode 48 - 8/18/2024

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  While the song, "Mr. Sandman" is a lighthearted tune about drifting off to sleep and having sweet dreams, the reality is that 1 in 10 Americans suffers from chronic insomnia.  However, there are precious few substantive studies on the issue of chronic insomnia.  But that's about to change, with an extensive study set to launch on behalf of the National Health Institutes, the largest funder of medical research.  $8.5M is being invested into an international study led by researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine at Hershey, to determine if cognitive behavioral therapy along with the drug Trazodone can substantially alleviate insomnia.  Dr. Alexandros Vgontzas is the principal study investigator.  He will discuss insomnia, its causes, and some of the ways in which it's treated on this edition of The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau.