After more than 20 years of clinical practice and experimental research, Professor An Jianxiong, founding dean of the Institute of Anesthesia Innovation Diagnosis and Treatment of Shandong Second Medical University and director of the Pain and Sleep Medicine Center of the Affiliated Hospital, proposed a "new theory of total nerve injury in chronic insomnia", which was published in the November 2023 issue of the Chinese Journal of Anesthesiology.
The core content of the new theory is that insomnia is a disorder of sleep rhythm, and repeated and long-term sleep rhythm disorders can cause extensive damage to nerve cell structures including the brain and spinal cord. Long-term use of conventional sleeping pills, antidepressants, and antipsychotics can exacerbate these injuries. However, multimodal sleep using patient-controlled sleep as the main line can repair damaged nerve cell structures by repeatedly and long-term induction of biomimetic natural sleep and restoration of normal sleep rhythms. Gradually reducing or even stopping sleeping pills during this process can also help repair damaged nerve structures, and the all-round recovery of natural sleep rhythm and structure is the standard for chronic insomnia recovery.
The whole nerve injury theory of chronic insomnia provides a more comprehensive explanation of the phenomenon of chronic insomnia. An Jianxiong's team's research has shown that neuromodulation may achieve good long-term efficacy by repairing total nerve damage. A variety of neuromodulation methods such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, electroacupuncture, trioxygen** and dexmedetomidine can significantly improve the sleep structure and sleep efficiency of insomnia patients, and the long-term effect is better than that of traditional sleeping drugs.
Based on the theory of total nerve injury of chronic insomnia, Professor An Jianxiong has established a new "multi-modal sleep" program with "patient-controlled sleep" as the main line. The rapid diagnosis and differential diagnosis of chronic insomnia are mainly carried out through sleep titration, and then physical and chemical neuromodulation methods such as patient-controlled sleep, rectal trioxygen perfusion, transcranial magnetism, millimeter wave and dexmedetomidine are used, with sleep cognitive behavior**, on the basis of repeated and long-term correction of disordered sleep rhythms, sleeping pills are gradually reduced and stopped, and finally natural sleep is restored and the damaged brain and spinal cord nerve structures are repaired, so as to achieve the recovery of chronic insomnia.
An Jianxiong Profile:Doctor of Medicine, doctoral supervisor of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Medical University, and leader of innovative diagnosis and treatment of anesthesia in China. Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh, USA. **Special allowance expert, deputy director of the Health Commission of the Democratic League**. He is currently a distinguished professor of Shandong Second Medical University, the founding president of the Institute of Anesthesia Innovative Diagnosis and Treatment, the director of the Pain and Sleep Medicine Center of the Affiliated Hospital, and the director of the Rapid Antidepressant Center. Founding Chairman of the Anesthesia and Pain Committee of the Chinese Sleep Research Association, Initiator and Deputy Head of the Sleep Group of the Anesthesiology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Deputy Head of the Innovative Diagnosis and Treatment Group of the Anesthesiology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Vice Chairman of the Sleep Committee of the Beijing Neurology Society, Founding Leader of the Sleep Working Group of the Anesthesiology Branch of the Beijing Medical Association, Vice Chairman of the Anesthesia and Pain Committee of the Beijing Perioperative Medical Association, Standing Committee Member of the Pain Physician Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, He is a standing member of the Neuromodulation Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association and the head of the Electroconvulsive and Neurostimulation Group, the vice chairman of the Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Branch of the China Medical Promotion Association, and the chairman-designate of the Pain Branch of the Chinese Association of Ethnic Medicine.
He is mainly engaged in innovative research on the principles of anesthesiology, intractable pain and insomnia, and creates three new pain models such as trigeminal neuralgia; In the field of sleep medicine, he published a new theory of total nerve injury for chronic insomnia, created a "two fast and one titration" system, and took the lead in proposing and practicing multi-mode sleep with patient-controlled sleep as the main line of intractable insomnia. In the field of pain medicine, an innovative diagnosis and treatment system of "two bombs and one regulation" has been created, and difficult diseases such as trigeminal neuralgia, postherpetic neuralgia, chronic pelvic pain, and femoral head necrosis have been created. Shandong Second Medical University took the lead in establishing the first innovative diagnosis and treatment institute of anesthesia, the first tri-oxygen medicine laboratory, the first rapid antidepressant center and the first multidisciplinary outpatient clinic for post-infection syndrome. He has presided over 17 scientific research projects at or above the national and ministerial levels, and published more than 70 SCI articles in international authoritative journals.