In the News

6 Ways Your Health Takes A Hit After A Single Night Of Bad Sleep

By Jenn Sinrich, Feb 14, 2025 Insufficient sleep also causes cortisol—the stress hormone—to go into overdrive, which keeps your body stuck in high-alert mode, making you feel more anxious, irritable, and generally on edge, according to Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a physician double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. “Without proper rest, […]

Can’t Stay Awake? A Rare Sleep Disorder Could Be the Cause

By Mara Santilli, Feb 12, 2025 “Idiopathic hypersomnia is a very challenging diagnosis, and basically it is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning almost everything has to be ruled out first, including narcolepsy, before the diagnosis can be made,” says Alex Dimitriu, M.D., who is double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and the founder of Menlo […]

Can I Take St. John’s Wort With Lexapro?

By Macy Alcido, Jan 29, 2025 The risk of serotonin syndrome intensifies when drugs designed to boost serotonin production are taken together, such as Lexapro and St. John’s wort, says Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a dual board-certified specialist in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine, and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. St. John’s wort works […]

Taking longer to get to REM sleep could indicate Alzheimer’s disease

By Jessica Freeborn, Jan 29, 2025 This study highlights how REM sleep is likely also important when it comes to dementia research and not just slow-wave sleep. Alex Dimitriu, MD, double board certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, who was also not involved in the study, […]

How to Deal With Restless Legs Syndrome

By Leandra Beabout, Jan 27, 2025 “RLS is a surprisingly common cause of insomnia in my patients, many of whom did not even realize such a condition exists,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, a double-board certified sleep medicine physician and psychiatrist, and the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. The exact causes of RLS are unknown, […]

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