Five Minutes with Umesh Sharma, MD

LYNNE JETER

Five Minutes with Umesh Sharma, MD | Neurology Faculty Practice, Orlando Regional Medical Center, neurology, sleep medicine, epilepsy, Umesh K. Sharma

New Addition to Neurology Faculty Practice Brings Epilepsy and Sleep Disorder Expertise

The Neurology Faculty Practice and graduate medical education program at Orlando Regional Medical Center recently added a neurologist who is well known for his expertise in epilepsy and sleep medicine.

Umesh K. Sharma, MD, specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of seizure disorders in adult and pediatric patients and serves as the director of the epilepsy program, which includes high-tech monitoring rooms at Lucerne Hospital, for the Orlando Health group. He is frequently sought to evaluate difficult seizure disorder cases and recommend the most appropriate therapy. In sleep disorders, he is well known for diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, parasomnia, narcolepsy, cataplexy, and excessive daytime sleepiness.

The Orlando Medical News chatted with Sharma, who grew up in India, about how his training at Sawait Man Singh Medical College in India, internship at Wyckoff Heights Medical College in New York, and residency at Ohio State University followed by fellowship training at the University of Michigan, helped craft a medical career that led him to Central Florida.


At what point did you decide to pursue a medical career?

I always knew early on during my tenth grade year in school that I would attend medical school. My father was a physician. The way he served others was a motivation; he was a very kind physician. He was my role model.

When did you decide to focus on neurology?

While practicing primary care in India in 1989, I always thought neurology was a fascinating branch of medicine.

When did you decide to specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of seizure disorders in adult and pediatric patients?

During my second year of neurology training, I decided to become an expert in epilepsy. I completed comprehensive epilepsy training at the University of Michigan. Only a few epilepsy training programs in the nation offer combined adult and pediatric epilepsy training.

What's unique about the epilepsy program at Lucerne Hospital?

We have the capacity to perform video EEG monitoring for seizure classification and localization and pre-surgical work up for patients with more challenging and poorly controlled seizures with anti-epileptic medicines in some epilepsy cases.

The hospital's Epilepsy Monitoring Unit uses special software and technology to help our neurology team diagnose seizures, locate the part of brain where seizures occur and determine the best course of treatment for patients more efficiently and effectively. The sooner we're able to identify the problem, develop a plan and begin treatment, the sooner patients are able to return to their life's activities. The technology allows us to monitor more patients and analyze data using a more efficient, effective method. With the unit, we can review raw data and reprocess specific elements of data in order to identify specific abnormalities, usually in a little over an hour, compared to slower analysis taking hours, or reviewing only intermittent samples with less sophisticated monitoring methods. Our technology also allows the images and brain wave monitoring to be securely reviewed by neurologists away from the hospital.

Could you also share with us the most fascinating recent findings in epilepsy and also sleep disorders?

Epilepsy is the most common in patients with developmental disabilities.

About 1 percent of the general population has epilepsy which is similar to the prevalence of developmental disabilities.

Also:

26 percent of the children with developmental disabilities have epilepsy.

37 percent of children with epilepsy also have developmental disabilities.

50 percent of patients who have cerebral palsy and developmental disabilities also have epilepsy.

If a patient is properly diagnosed and treated for epilepsy, there's a significant impact on the patient's life. Morbidity and mortality is reduced and the quality of life is improved.

Sleep disordered breathing is a common disease in the United States.

Several studies indicate that the incidence of sleep apnea in men between aged 30-60 years is about 9-24 percent and in women in the same age group is 4-9 percent.

The prevalence of sleep apnea is 2 percent in women and 4 percent in men.

Approximately 80 percent of patients with sleep disordered breathing are undiagnosed.

Studies show an increased risk of heart attacks, high blood pressure, metabolic syndromes, risk of stroke, cognitive disturbances and depression is associated with obstructive sleep apnea. It is a significant public health problem and has impact on morbidity and mortality in the general population.

Could you share with us highlights from your clinical research in cognitive neurology and clinical pharmacology?

I have been involved with several publications--Problem Solving Ability in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment, Donepezil in the Treatment of Dementia With Lewy Bodies, Effect of Propranolol on Naming in Chronic Broca's Aphasia with Anomia—and a book chapter, Transient Ischemic Attack; 5-minute Neurology Consult.

I participated in several clinical trials in epilepsy, cognitive and behavior neurology, sleep medicine and clinical pharmacology.

Could you share a highlight from your chapter on transient ischemic attacks?

Approximately 240,000 TIAs per year are diagnosed in the United States. About 0.3 percent of patients are diagnosed in the hospital ER. TIA increases the risk of stroke within a year by 15 percent. Treatment of anti platelet and modification of risk factors plays key role in stroke prevention.

How do you juggle teaching, research and a busy medical practice? What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?

I enjoy playing with my kids and spending time with family. I love reading, playing chess, and daily practice of yoga and meditation. I love watching Indian movies and listening to music.