By Morgan Mandriota, June 16, 2023

Alex Dimitriu, MD, is double board certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. Below, he shares expert tips on how to sleep better year-round, especially this summer.

Q:          Everybody has different habits and preferences. What are the ideal, evidence-backed temperature and lighting settings for optimal sleep health?

A: Sleep loves a cave, so think cool, dark, and quiet. A drop in body temperature at night helps increase deep sleep, so set the thermostat low.

Click HERE for the full article.

By Jessica Migala and Rebecca Treon, June 5, 2023

“Being comfortable, cool, not in pain and breathing well are essential to a good night’s sleep,” says Dr. Alex Dimitriu, who’s double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and is the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. “Besides comfort, a pillow plays a significant role in keeping the spine and the airway aligned — and this serves to reduce any discomfort and also ensure optimal airflow for good breathing through the night.”

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May 25, 2023 Dr. Dimitriu was published in Psychology Today in an article titled:

For ADHD, White Noise Could Be an Alternative to Medication

Could some types of noise potentially prove therapeutic for individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Results of a growing number of recent studies indicate “yes,” despite past research showing that noise exposure, in general, impairs human cognitive performance, negatively affects patterns of brain activity, and damages mental and physical health. One online article boldly displays the headline White Noise May Be as Effective as Drugs for ADHD.

Click HERE for the full article.

By Annie Lennon, May 16, 2023

To understand why duloxetine and milnacipran — and not other antidepressants — may reduce chronic pain in the short term, Medical News Today spoke with Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine, and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, not involved in the study. He told us: “Both duloxetine and milnacipran offer some advantage to pain. The reason is that these medications work on norepinephrine, implicated in pain perception, as well as serotonin, implicated in depression.”

Click HERE for the full article.

By Beth Ann Mayer, May 10, 2023

“Lack of slow-wave sleep, in this case, due to sleep interruption from sleep apnea, results in effectively, a mild form of brain damage, or at least aging, by about two years for every 10% loss of slow-wave sleep,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, who is double board-certified psychiatry and sleep medicine and founded Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. “This is consistent with the theory that the brain needs slow-wave sleep to clean itself up and prepare for the next day.”

Click HERE for the full article.

By Mili Godio, Updated May 4, 2023

“Not everyone is an equally deep sleeper, and people with any sleep issues at baseline will often have a harder time sleeping in a louder and less comfortable environment — such as an airplane,” says board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine specialist Dr. Alex Dimitriu. He noted that posture plays a big role in the discomfort we feel — and as anyone who has slept on a plane knows, “the head tends to fall off to the side or forward, which is both uncomfortable and can cause neck pain, and [can] even make breathing less efficient.”

Click HERE for the full article.

April 27, 2023 Dr. Dimitriu was published in Psychology Today in an article titled:

Ape to Angel: The Developmental Stages of AI

I work as a psychiatrist and sleep specialist in Silicon Valley and have always had a deep interest in technology and human-computer interaction. Through the lens of human development, I believe we can draw parallels to understand how artificial intelligence may evolve, and also some guiding principles for the future of ourselves and our technological creations. While many unforeseeable outcomes are possible, the following is based broadly on human developmental stages

“AI is one of the most profound things we’re working on as humanity. It’s more profound than fire or electricity,” Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai commented at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Click HERE for the full article.