Sleep Disorders

Dr. Alan Douglass and the ROHCG Sleep Disorders Clinic

The ROH Sleep Disorders Clinic, directed by Dr. Alan Douglass, is an outpatient clinic where patients with suspected sleep disorders are referred by general practitioners or specialists in other areas. While the Sleep Disorder Clinic can diagnose any sleep disorder in their sleep laboratory (obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, periodic limb movements), they are especially interested in the diagnosis of sleep disorders in psychiatric patients, and psychiatric symptoms in general medical patients.

Because most chronic insomnia is associated with depression, anxiety, or bipolar spectrum disorders, this clinic is better able to treat insomnia relative to other local sleep clinics. Moreover, members of the Sleep Clinic have presented papers on heartbeat irregularities in sleep apnea, chronic insomnia, and the mis-diagnosis of narcolepsy patients as schizophrenic. They have also developed research sleep questionnaires, and sponsor research projects of undergraduate students from the University of Ottawa School of Psychology.

Dr. Douglass is also conducting basic pharmacology research into the control of eye movements (EM's) in Rapid Eye Movement sleep (REM sleep), where most of the night's dreaming occurs. EM's, which are controlled by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and respond to drugs that block or assist acetylcholine are most pronounced among depressed individuals, when compared to healthy controls. The research involves drugs that probe the acetylcholine system to create tests that predict treatment response in depressed patients, and the risk of depression in their family members.

In the new ROHCG/IMHR facility, the Sleep Clinic will have 5 clinical sleep disorder bedrooms for overnight studies. In addition, they will share space with Neurophysiology/ EEG that will provide 3 or 4 more beds for pure research studies. This will considerably expand their research capability and attract more researchers and graduate students.

For more information on the University of Ottawa IMHR Mood Disorders unit please contact Dr. Alan Douglass, Director, ROH Sleep Disorders Clinic at 613-722-6521 ext. 6226 or by email at .

For a list of on-going studies currently recruiting participants, please visit our Study Participation page.