Sleep Apnea Study
A sleep apnea study is necessary if you feel that your snoring could be developing into something more. Simple snoring is not the same as sleep apnea. When snoring is very loud and is accompanied by lack of breathing episodes a sleep apnea condition is very possible. Sleep apnea can cause serious damage to the heart because when the body cannot breathe the heart accelerates pumping more blood which increases blood pressure.
Depending on the cause you can classify sleep apnea into one of 3 types: central sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea or complex sleep apnea which is a combination of the 2 previous ones. The obstructive sleep apnea is related to a physical obstruction on the throat area. In central sleep apnea the brain is not sending the appropriate signals to the respiratory system to breath while sleeping. The way to correctly diagnose if you are indeed suffering from sleep apnea or any other sleep disorder is through a sleep apnea study.
The Sleep Center
In the sleep center you will connected to a machine called a polysomnograph (this means that the machine makes multiple sleep recordings). Several electrodes will be connected to different parts of your body to measure different things. The ones connected to head is to measure brain wave activity.
Others connected to the face very close to the eyes to measure rapid eye movement, the ones in the chin and throat area is to detect the muscle tone of the jaw, in the chest area to measure the heart beat, in the legs to detect any strange leg movements. Sometimes other devices can be connected as well to detect any other sleeping disorder that could affect you. The sleep apnea study normally takes 2 nights to be completed. One night is diagnose the condition while the other to set the parameters of the cpap machine that they will prescribe you if is determined that you suffer from sleep apnea.
Home Sleep Apnea Test
There is a portable device that can be used to test for sleeping disorders in your own home. Many people feel more comfortable taking the test in their own home than in a sleep center. The equipment for the study can be simple or complicated. The experts have stated that a good sleep apnea study should measure at least 4 parameters.
One should record the breathing movements, another for airflow, one for heart rate and another one for oxygen level on blood. Even with that, one disadvantage is that no measure of the brain wave activity is being taken which can make harder to diagnose people with mild cases of sleep apnea. Another important detail is that a technician should be present in the home sleep apnea test in case any abnormality with the equipment occurs. That way if anything happens the technician can correct the problem. The sleep study at home is indeed more economic but has the disadvantage of being less accurate.
Your life can improve dramatically with the help of a sleep study so decide to do it if you are a heavy snorer.
Return from Apnea Study to Sleep Apnea Machines
Go from Sleep Apnea Study to Snoring Remedies and Solutions
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Disclosure Policy | Contact us