Our experienced and highly trained doctors offer special expertise in:
- Insomnia
- Narcolepsy
- Restless leg syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder
- Sleep apnea
- Sleep hygiene / Poor sleep habits
- Sleepwalking / Somnambulism
- Wide-range of home medical equipment
What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea occurs when you briefly stop breathing during sleep. This common sleep disorder contributes to many medical problems: high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. It also affects your quality of life by causing general drowsiness, irritability, lack of energy and focus. Job performance and driving safety can be greatly diminished as well.
Most people don't even realize they have sleep apnea, but you're more likely to have it if you're diabetic, overweight, have high blood pressure or have a heart rhythm disturbance called atrial fibrillation.
If your bed partner says you snore, snort, gasp, choke or stop breathing during sleep, you may have sleep apnea. A sleep study is needed to make an accurate diagnosis, but if you suspect you have a sleep disorder, talk to your doctor.
If your doctor suspects you have sleep apnea or another sleep disorder, he or she may prescribe a sleep study in one of our sleep labs. You'll typically arrive at the sleep lab in the early evening and leave the next morning. We provide a natural sleeping environment with hotel-like accommodations, so you'll have your own comfortable, private room.
The sleep study, also called a polysomnogram, records brain activity, eye movement, oxygen and carbon dioxide blood levels, heart rate and rhythm, breathing rate and rhythm, the flow of air through your mouth and nose, snoring, body muscle movements, and chest and belly movement. The results are used to determine if you have one or more of the 80 sleep disorders that can interfere with your good night's sleep.
