Sleep Apnea Testing – What Can You Expect
Although many sleep apnea conditions may not be considered life-threatening the effect of these conditions, in particular an excessive amount of fatigue, may put your life in potentially grave danger.
That's the reason why it is mostly recommended that you undergo sleep apnea testing if you believe that you're experiencing any sleep-related condition. With correct analysis, sufferers have several highly effective treatment choices.
What can Be expected
Usually testing will begin with your health practitioner who will have to acquire your past medical records and do a physical test. The doctor will judge your weight and living habits and ask your typical sleeping time, sleeping routines and how you perform in the daytime.
Diagnosing sleep apnea can be difficult for a doctor for a couple of reasons:
1 – most of the symptoms appear during the night while you are usually sleeping; and
2 – lots of the symptoms related to sleep apnea are also related to other health conditions.
If you've got a physical condition that your health practitioner determines is the reason behind your apnea, you may not need further testing.
Sorts of Sleep Apnea Testing
When an examination doesn’t give conclusive results, depending on your symptoms, your GP may refer you to consultants or sleep study centres to have any of the following:
Polysomnography Study (PSG)
Polysomnography (PSG) is the most commonly used type of sleep apnea testing – your breathing and other bodily functions receive constant monitoring and recording. PSG monitors heart rate, state of sleep, levels of oxygen in the blood, any difficulties in breathing, eye movement and muscle activity.
There are 2 kinds of PSG tests. Overnight testing in sleep study centers or hospitals which consists of monitoring the patient while sleeping or in some cases PSG may be performed at home with the help of a special monitor, and a sleep technologist to hook up the machine.
Blood Tests
Blood testing to test if your sleeping disorder results from hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone production)
Cardiologist
A specialist whose expertise is in the branch of medicine that studies and deals with problems of the heart to have an electrocardiogram (ECG) to see if your sleep problem is impacting on your cardio system.
Otolaryngologist
A consultant whose expertise is in the branch of medicine involved with the treatment and diagnosis of diseases of the ear, nose and throat to check for potential obstruction in your air passages.
Neurologist
An expert whose expertise is in the branch of medicine that deals with the structure and function of the nervous system to check for underlying neurological conditions like a stroke, polio, or a degenerative brain dysfunction which could contribute to sleep apnea.
Pulmonologist
A specialist whose area of expertise is in the branch of medicine that deals with the structure, physiology and diseases of the lungs to ascertain levels of oxygen in the blood stream and breathing patterns.
While the above may appear to you to be quite daunting, your doctor will be able to explain any of the tests he may propose in full detail to you. Sleep apnea testing is a great way to find out the correct diagnosis.
After suffering from sleep apnea symptoms for a number of years the writer, Peter Patterson, went through sleep apnea testing to correctly diagnose his health condition. To test sleep apnea he went through a Polysomnography study and has written useful information not only on what he experienced but also many apsects of this sleeping problem.