WELLSVILLE, NY (November 16, 2021) –Do you have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep? Do you wake up groggy? Feel drowsy during the day? Maybe it’s time to talk to your healthcare provider about a referral to the Jones Memorial Hospital Sleep Disorder Center.
A sleep disorder is more than just being tired. If you don’t get enough sleep, you are at risk for a number of chronic health conditions including asthma, heart attack, and high blood pressure. A sleep study can identify the reasons you are not getting the rest you need. These can include restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy, insomnia, or the most common problem cause of sleep deprivation: Sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is snoring interrupted by periods of silence, gasping, or choking during sleep. As the soft tissues and muscles in and around the throat relax, the airway becomes narrower, causing snoring and breathing difficulties. If these muscles relax too much, the airway can become completely blocked and prevent breathing. After a short period of time—ten seconds to two minutes—the brain realizes there is a lack of oxygen and alerts the body to wake up.
Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder – especially for people who have had a stroke or heart attack, or have diabetes, hypothyroidism, or high blood pressure. “People who have these conditions are more likely to have sleep apnea and should strongly consider having a sleep study,” said Brenda Mong Szabo, Vice President of Specialty Services at Jones Memorial.
Sleep apnea can occur hundreds of times during the night. During a sleep study, the person is attached to 25 leads that record their brain waves, blood oxygen level, heart rate, breathing, and eye and leg movements. This information is used to by a sleep medicine physician to make a diagnosis and recommend the best course of treatment.
With sleep apnea as the most common sleep disorder, often the answer is CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy, which delivers a lightly pressurized air through a small nose mask during sleep. Other options for treating sleep apnea include removal of tonsils and adenoids, oral appliances, weight loss, surgery, or the Inspire system for qualified candidates.
For more information about sleep studies at Jones Memorial Hospital Sleep Disorder Center, talk to your healthcare provider or check the hospital website: jones.rochester.edu.
