Bilal Saulat, MD, MPH, has been named director of the University of Maryland Shore Regional Health Sleep Disorders Center, according to Jonathan Cook, vice president of physician services for UM Shore Regional Health.
Dr. Saulat is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Sleep Medicine. His credentials include a fellowship in sleep medicine at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York and a fellowship in neuromuscular and electro-diagnostic medicine from the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey. Dr. Saulat also completed an internship at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago, and a residency at the University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile. He holds a master’s degree in public health and clinical research from the University of Minnesota.
Bilal Saulat, MD, MPH, has been named director of UM Shore Regional Health’s Sleep Disorders Center. With facilities in the UM Medical Centers at Dorchester and Easton and in UM Shore Medical Pavilion at Queenstown, the Center tests and treats approximately 1,000 patients every year for a variety of sleep problems.
The only sleep center on Maryland’s Eastern Shore that is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the UM Shore Regional Health Sleep Disorders Center is staffed by a team of skilled physicians (Dr. Saulat and neurologist Walid Kamsheh, MD, and pulmonologist Peyman Otmishi, MD), and board-certified registered polysomnography technologists, and support staff. It offers a comprehensive range of services, including diagnostic sleep centers at UM Shore Medical Center at Dorchester, UM Shore Medical Center at Easton, and UM Shore Medical Pavilion at Queenstown. Nearly 1,000 sleep studies are conducted annually at the three locations, and in the past year, the Center began offering the home sleep study option, which was utilized by approximately 80 patients.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep problems. Sleep deprivation is associated with injuries and chronic diseases including related heart attacks, strokes, and mental illness; poor quality of life; increased health care costs; and lost work productivity. Sleep problems are critically under-addressed contributors to certain chronic conditions, including obesity, cardiac disease and depression.
One of the most common and serious problems addressed by the Sleep Disorders Center is sleep apnea. “Recent studies have shown that a person with untreated severe sleep apnea for a decade or more may have greater than four times the risk of diseases like heart attack and stroke as someone who doesn’t,” notes Dr. Saulat. “When treating sleep apnea in patients who also have high blood pressure, we usually see improvement within the first month of treatment.”
Other positive outcomes seen in many patients treated for sleep disorders include increased energy, improved mental alertness and judgment, weight loss, and a lower risk for accidents, depression, and premature death from other causes.
Dr. Saulat also continues his practice with Shore Neurology and Sleep Medicine, which is part of Shore Medical Group, an affiliate of UM Shore Regional Health. With locations in Easton and Queenstown, Shore Neurology and Sleep Medicine provides testing, diagnosis and treatment for back and neck pain, migraines, carpal tunnel syndrome, stroke, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, Parkinson’s disease and other disorders of the nerves and muscles.
For more information about the UM Shore Regional Health Sleep Disorders Center, call 410-822-1000, ext. 5338.
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