Sleep Unplugged with Dr. Chris Winter

#219 - Top 10 Sleep Threat Power Rankings: Trapped Inside Disillusion

Dr. Alison Kole is taking on sleepmaxxing, ChatGPT, and the sleep-industrial complex in her Top 10 Sleep Threat list. In this episode we will: Explore why patients somet

#218 - Medication Deprescribing: Get Off This

Nobody blinks when a doctor says you'll be on blood pressure medication for the rest of your life. Say the same sentence about an antidepressant, or Zepbound, and re

#217 - Modern Night Shift and Circadian Adaptation: Up All Night

Our current gig economy did not just create new jobs, it expanded a whole new category of night worker, from rideshare drivers to online freelancers to overnight fulfillm

#216 - Nasal Strips and Sleep: Leave Me Breathless

Nasal strips have been a fixture in pharmacy aisles and on athletes' faces for decades, sold on the promise of easier breathing, but the peer-reviewed evidence often

#215 - Seqoquel and Insomnia: Same Thing From The Same Old Cause

Ten million prescriptions a year, and most of them aren't for what the drug was built to treat. Seroquel started life as an antipsychotic — engineered to quiet psych

#214 - Top 10 Sleep Threat Power Rankings: They Couldn’t See It

Most "top sleep threats" lists stick to one lane — pediatric or adult, clinical or cultural. Dr. Funke Afolabi-Brown's list refuses to. It jumps from kids' airw

#213 - Research from the 2026 SLEEP Scientific Conference: Something New

Every June, thousands of sleep researchers descend on one city and quietly rewrite what we think we know about a third of our lives. This year it was Baltimore's tur

#212 - Deep Sleep and REM Sleep: A Deeper Understanding, Lost In A Dream

Deep sleep and REM sleep get lumped together as "good sleep," but they're almost opposite states — one is the quietest your brain gets all night, the other is nearly

#211 - Insomnia and Sleep Apnea: Just Don’t Know

We tend to think of insomnia and sleep apnea as two completely different sleep disorders. One means you can't sleep. The other means you stop breathing. Simple, righ

#210 - Top 10 Sleep Threat Power Rankings: Stop Right Now, Thank You Very Much

This week marks the 12th month we have put out the Top 10 Sleep Threats Power Rankings, and this week, we have a special guest assessor, Upneet Chawla, MD (@sleeping.beau

#209 - Sleep Quantity or Consistency…which is Queen?: Your Future’s At Stake

Sleep duration has always been the headline number in sleep science, but mounting research is pushing the conversation toward something less obvious: how consistent your

#208 - Menopause and Sleep Update: Outside This Woman's Work

Menopause has always been linked to sleep disruption, but the story has changed dramatically since we last covered it in episode 3. Hot flashes and night sweats still mat

#207 - Insomnia and Narcolepsy: Tired of the Same Old Story

Narcolepsy is often described as a disorder of excessive daytime sleepiness, but that description only tells part of the story. Many people living with narcolepsy also st

#206 - Sleep Trackers in the Clinic--Help or Harm?: I Guess I Gotta Buy It

Sleep trackers have become one of the fastest-growing trends in modern health culture. Rings, watches, apps, and mattress sensors now promise to measure everything about

#205 - Socks In Bed: Taking All The Heat On Your Feet

People tend to have surprisingly strong opinions about wearing socks in bed. Some people swear by them, claiming they fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply. Others fin

#204 - Nidra for RLS: Voltage Running Through Your Skin

Restless Legs Syndrome has long been treated as a medication problem. But what if one of the most important clues was hidden in the thing patients already know: movement

#203 - What’s Next To Your Bed?: In The Dark, Try To Make It Work

What’s on your bedside table? A lamp? A phone? A book? A bottle of melatonin gummies? A tangled charging cable? In this episode we explore what our bedside environments r

#202 - AI Sleep Therapists: Machines to Save Our Lives, Machines Dehumanize

Artificial intelligence is quietly moving into one of the most human spaces we have: therapy. Chatbots now deliver cognitive behavioral strategies, respond with empathy,

#201 - Top 10 Sleep Threat Power Rankings: I Should Be Scared, But I Feel No Fear

This week marks the 11th month we have put out the Top 10 Sleep Threats Power Rankings, and this week, we have a special guest assessor, Ellen Wermter FNP-BC. Ellen is a

#200 - Sleep Reflections and Hopes: 200 More Before I Sleep

Sleep has never been more visible...or more complicated. In a world of sleep scores, optimization strategies, and endless advice, the pursuit of better sleep has quietly