Michael Howell, MD

Dr Howell is a neurologist who specializes in sleep disorders and sees patients at Fairview Riverside and Fairview Southdale. He is Program Director of the Clinical Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Hennepin County Medical Center and the University of Minnesota as well as Medical Director of the Fairview Sleep Center-Edina. His clinical interests include sleepwalking and related disorders such as REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, Sleep Related Eating Disorder, sleep seizures and other violent sleep behaviors.

My research interests include characterizing the relationship between sleep and neurological disorders, and determining whether these processes are reversible with current or experimental therapies. I am also interested in the relationship between sleep and obesity. Specifically, I am investigating whether poor sleep as a result of sleep deprivation or of sleep disorders leads to or contributes to the current global obesity pandemic.

Allison KC, Lundgren JD, O'Reardon JP, Geliebter A, Gluck ME, Vinai P, Mitchell JE, Schenck CH, Howell MJ, Crow SJ, Engel S, Latzer Y, Tzischinsky O, Mahowald MW, Stunkard AJ. Proposed Diagnostic Criteria for Night Eating Syndrome. Int J Eat Disord, Apr 17, 43(3):241-247, 2010. PMID: 19378289.

Howell MJ, Arneson PA, Schenck CH. A novel treatment for REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 7(6):639-644, 2011.

Howell MJ, Schenck CH. Treatment of NREM Parasomnias in Adults: Confusional Arousals, Sleepwalking, Sleep Terrors, and Sleep Related Eating Disorder. Therapy in Sleep Medicine. Elsevier Publishing, Oxford, UK, 2011.

Howell MJ, REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, Medlink, 2012-present.

Howell MJ and Schenck CH. Restless Nocturnal Eating: A Common Feature of Willis-Ekbom Syndrome (RLS). Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 8(4):413-419, 2012. PMID: 22893772.

Howell MJ and Schenck CH. Sleep Related Eating Disorder. Encyclopedia of Sleep, Elsevier Publishing, Oxford, UK (accepted and pending publication), 2012.

Howell MJ, Crow SJ. Nocturnal Eating and Sleep Disorders. Night Eating Syndrome: Research, Assessment, and Treatment. Guillford Publishers, New York, NY 151-176, 2012.

Howell MJ. Parasomnias: an updated review. Neurotherapeutics Oct;9(4):752-775, 2012. PMID: 22965264.

Howell MJ. Parasomnias. Atlas of Sleep Medicine, Second Edition. Elsevier Publishing, Oxford, UK, accepted for Publication, 2012.

Howell MJ. Restless Eating, Restless Legs, and Sleep Related Eating Disorder. Current Obesity Reports. (accepted and pending publication), 2014.