Useful Guide About
Sleep Apnea Testing

A familiar sleep disorder is called sleep apnea which induces a painful suspension in respiration while you are in bed. There are several distinct types and while they are not normally life threatening there are circumstances that could lead to grave medical problems and endanger your life. This is why it’s essential to be administered a sleep apnea exam if you have an idea that you’re suffering from this complaint.

There are a number of ways that you can tell if you are suffering from sleep apnea, and many unfortunate people suffer from other symptoms or conditions in which sleep problems chronic. For example ,obesity, depression, and chronic fatigue syndrome all may be caused by sleep apnea, and they may even experience dryness in he mouth or may wake up experiencing a panic attack like episode, with choking and gasping.

Insomnia may be a part of your sleep disorder but the only way to know if your symptoms are being caused by sleep apnea or are perhaps the cause of your sleep apnea is to go to your physician and take a sleep apnea test. A sleep apnea test is usually given at a sleep disorder center but can also be administered at a hospital or doctor’s office where the appropriate facilities and equipment are available.

You’ll need to take a physical exam and part of the test consists of an examination of the throat, the nose, the uvula and the palate. To better understand your problem there will be an interview with questions showing how you feel about your quality of sleep. The doctors will want to have you sleep with them overnight where a record is kept of how well you sleep.

The common test to record your sleep patterns is going to be a PSG which stands for a polysomnogram which comes in two varieties. The first type of test is the overnight sleep test and is comprised of supervising various activities such as breathing patterns, heart rate, blood oxygen level, eye movement and brain activity.

The second way this can be tested is at home where a skilled technician attaches the proper electrodes and allows the patient to monitor their results at home through a polysomnograph. What the doctors are looking for when deciding whether the results of the test are good or bad is something called the RDI or the respiratory disturbance index.

Numerical terms express the number of abnormal events which disrupted your breathing over the entire test. Following is the common measures used when judging whether or not a person has sleep apnea. If the number of captured events over the period of an hour is higher than twenty then the patient is usually recommended for treatment.

Occasionally, there are some added exams which may also be requested including a multiple sleep latency test that determines how much your lack of sleep is effecting you. For a normal person, they need around 10 minutes to begin to fall asleep so individuals who can fall asleep in less than five minutes are usually recommended for treatment. A strip test can also be administered in front of the sleep apnea exam in order to determine if one is needed.