Episode 17 · Jun 28, 2026 · A Healthy Conversation
with Dr. Christopher Murry
About this episode
Dr. Christopher Murry, a MaineHealth physician board certified in sleep medicine and otolaryngology, joins co-hosts Dr. Lisa Belisle and Dr. Jeff Barkin to discuss what healthy sleep actually looks like. The conversation opens with the building blocks of a good night's rest: sufficient consolidated hours, reliable sleep architecture, and the distinct roles of REM and non-REM sleep. Murry explains that REM sleep, defined by rapid eye movement and temporary muscle paralysis, is when the brain processes emotional memory and creativity, while deep non-REM sleep is when the glymphatic system clears waste proteins such as beta-amyloid and tau. Three forces shape how well any individual sleeps: genetics, the buildup of a brain chemical called adenosine throughout the day, and exposure to light, which regulates the circadian rhythm through melatonin.
The discussion moves to sleep-disordered breathing, which Murry describes as most often a partial rather than complete airway obstruction, with consequences for both cardiovascular health and brain function through elevated cortisol. A polysomnography, or in-lab sleep study, uses EEG leads, respiratory belts and airflow sensors to track sleep stages, oxygen levels and limb movement; increasingly, simpler home sleep studies handle the majority of evaluations. When sleep-disordered breathing reaches a moderate or severe threshold, continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, is the standard first treatment, delivering a gentle column of room air that keeps the upper airway open through the night. For patients who cannot tolerate CPAP, options include mandibular advancement devices and, for carefully screened candidates, upper airway stimulation, an implanted device that uses mild electrical pulses to the hypoglossal nerve to move the tongue forward and open the airway.
Murry also addresses the connection between disrupted sleep and longer-term brain health. REM behavior disorder, in which a person acts out dreams because normal muscle paralysis is incomplete, can be identified on a sleep study and may warrant monitoring for neurocognitive conditions such as Parkinson's disease. Separately, chronic poor sleep, whether from insomnia or repeated arousals, sustains elevated cortisol that over time can affect memory and learning systems in the brain. Restless legs syndrome, frequently linked to iron deficiency, produces similar arousal disruptions and is evaluated through ferritin and transferrin levels before treatment is considered. Co-hosts Belisle and Barkin weave in observations from their own clinical experience, noting how often patients normalize years of poor sleep before seeking care, and the conversation closes with a shared emphasis on earlier recognition and a widening range of practical treatment paths.
From this episode
“Good sleep. Number one to me is sufficient sleep. We want sufficient sleep consolidated sleep patterns. Anybody sleeps between seven and nine hours, and it's trying to figure that out. What's good for any given individual? We want to have restorative sleep, and we want to have good REM sleep.”
“The things that get us to sleep are three, in my opinion. One is genetics. Number two is sleep pressure and number three is light. So if I look at sleep pressure, there's a chemical that builds up in my brain called adenosine. And as adenosine builds up throughout the day, that causes me to go shut eye at night.”
“With the arousal and non-REM sleep, we're not having clearance or flushing of the beta amyloid or tau proteins at that point, which are accumulating within the brain itself. And those proteins are causing problems with our brain to cause memory.”
“If you look at studies now and you look at ResMed studies, which is a company that's looked at CPAP or positive airway therapy throughout the world, 80% of people tolerate positive airway therapy.”
“REM takes off of our emotional portions. It'll take the sharp edges off that. That takes our memories and decides how to assimilate or integrate memories on a given day. Those are also our dream stages on any given night.”
“Weight loss of 10% can improve sleep disordered breathing by up to 25%. So we can look at small gains and weight loss that may actually make large gains in sleep disordered breathing.”