At every medical appointment, certain rituals unfold: height, weight, blood pressure, and—almost reflexively—temperature. But in asymptomatic patients, how often does that temperature reading actually matter? In this episode, we will:
- Examine the origins of routine temperature checks and their current clinical value
- Explore data showing how infrequently temperature readings in well visits lead to meaningful outcomes
- Introduce the idea of sleep as a more relevant and revealing “vital sign”
- Highlight how simple questions—like “Do you snore?” or “Are you sleepy during the day?”—can uncover high-impact sleep disorders
- Contrast the diagnostic yield of temperature checks vs. sleep screening
- Consider why sleep is still overlooked in routine care, despite its massive public health implications
- Reimagine a future where sleep quality is as routinely measured—and meaningfully addressed—as blood pressure
Produced by: Maeve Winter
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Thanks for listening and sleep well!
