Tag: Sleep Study

The Cost Of Getting A Good Night’s Sleep

People will go to great lengths just to be able to sleep soundly again. Some even shell out the extra dough for treatments and services that promise a better and longer shuteye even just for a while. Sleep, or better yet, the lack of it, has a major impact on people’s lives. You perform poorly at school or at work and always feel sleepy during the day. You even raise your risk of getting injuries or into accidents because you feel drowsy most of the time.

There are different reasons for sleep deprivation. Sleep apnea and restless leg are two of them but it can also be caused by other distractions. It is more difficult for people whose sleeplessness they have no control over with. Like with sleep apnea, there is little you can do about it given that it is still incurable. However, there are plenty of sleep management procedures and products one can try to help them overcome their sleep issues. But prior to treatment, a person is often asked to undergo a sleep study. This in itself is quite costly already and not all the time covered by insurance. Once the results are in can treatment really begin. Yet throughout this entire ordeal, you have to ensure your pocket is deep because diagnosis to management does not come cheap.

A lot of people are spending that much and more in search of the elusive good night’s sleep.

More than a third of Americans don’t get the recommended seven hours of shut-eye and as many as 70 million people have a chronic sleep disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center on Sleep Disorder Research.

Sleep studies, the gold standard for diagnosing sleep disorders, are such big business that the number of accredited sleep centers across the nation has soared from 500 in 2000 to 2,600 today.

Independence Blue Cross, the largest private insurer in the Philadelphia region, has seen a 28 percent increase in the number of sleep studies it has been billed for over the last five years, with about 32,390 studies in 2017 alone.

(Via: http://www.philly.com/philly/health/health-costs/high-cost-of-a-good-nights-sleep-20180606.html)

The sleep industry is a thriving one these days. Not only do they cater to patients with disorders or conditions that prevent them from getting a restful sleep like sleep apnea but individuals whose lifestyle prevents them from enjoying a good night’s sleep also spend a fortune to somehow give their tired bodies the rest it needs because no amount of money can essentially take the place of a long and restful slumber.

No matter how pricey these treatments are, people who are really struggling with sleep do not hesitate to pay for it because it is their chance to become normal again. If you opt to buy sleep apnea mouthpieces such as the GMSS and SleepTight to address snoring and sleep apnea, it is also an additional expense but a slightly cheaper option compared to an invasive surgery or CPAP.

  1. Soak up some sunshine

Expose your eyes to light first thing in the morning by opening your blinds and turning on your lights as soon as you wake up. Take a walk outside in the morning and over your lunch hour — you’ll get exercise and healing light at the same time. If you have a window in your office, position your desk so that you face it, or are at least perpendicular to the window.

  1. Rethink your lighting

If you’re stuck in a windowless office all morning, invest in the LED light bulbs created by Definity Digital. Their “Awake and Alert” light bulb produces blue light to keep you awake, and it’s bright enough to help affect sleep-wake cycles. You can also use a special bulb like Definity Digital’s “Good Night” light bulb, which filters out the blue light in the afternoon and evening, when it’s best to avoid fluorescent and LED lighting.

(Via: http://www.businessinsider.com/sleep-help-how-to-fall-asleep-restless-insomnia-mental-health-doctor-2018-5)

You should no longer be proud that you are losing sleep because of too much work. Learn to care for your body first or all your nasty habits or negligence will take its toll on your health over time. When you are getting insufficient sleep, everything else in your body suffers. If you are not blessed with having a deep pocket, then you can try more natural remedies that help address sleeplessness. But they only serve as an adjunct management to your treatment plan if you are diagnosed with a condition like sleep apnea because it warrants medical attention.

Making positive lifestyle changes can make a big difference in your life without hurting your finances. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to distance yourself from too much electronics especially when it is nearing your bedtime. They emit harmful blue light that can mess up your body’s circadian rhythm and further mess up your chances of sleeping soundly through the night. Do your research because you don’t always have to spend money in order to do something good for your health and well- being.

Visit A Sleep Disorder Center For A Good Night’s Sleep

Sleeping is not just a luxury but a necessity in our lives. We need it in order to function normally and live healthily throughout all the days of our lives. Our sleeping requirement varies as we age. Babies do nothing but just sleep almost the entire day but the length of their sleep reduces as they grow up. Kids still have the biggest requirement because of the rapid growth and development they go through and it is evident in their growing bodies. Once you enter adulthood, sleep becomes more of a luxury because of heavier workload and more responsibilities you have to juggle day in and day out. Yet even if you can claim that your body has reached maturity once you hit adulthood, it does not mean you need less sleep than your younger counterparts.

Sleep is essential for everyone no matter what your age is. Adults need it too because they do so much more now they need the energy to help them last throughout the day and night. They can’t just reason out that they lack sleep as an excuse to skip school or miss work because they should know better that their bodies need to rest too or else they succumb to sickness. It’s the reason why sleep clinics are on the rise these days. Many people finally admit that they lack sleep for a lot of reasons but it should not stop them from getting this lost sleep back with the help of modern science. We are not just simply talking about insomnia or some other sleep distraction but of more chronic, debilitating, and deadly conditions such as sleep disorders.

Dr. John Geyer and his staff at the Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital Sleep Disorder Center help the community sleep at night, literally. As medical director of the sleep center, Geyer evaluates patients and orders sleep studies based on their problems. Once Craig Schumacher, RPSGT, RST, performs and grades the studies, Geyer reviews the data to decide what treatment is right for his patients.

“The study is primarily to figure out what they have. And then we tailor a treatment for that,” Geyer said.

Treatments may include special equipment, mouth pieces, positional therapy or medication.

(Via: http://www.demopolistimes.com/2018/01/15/bwwmh-sleep-center-helping-patients-get-good-nights-rest/)

Sleep apnea has already been prevalent years ago but it’s only now that people are starting to recognize it for the health risk it really is. Imagine people with sleep apnea experiencing multiple breathing pauses during their sleep and that leaves them lacking in oxygen that is crucial for various body processes that keeps us alive. Back then, we only think of snoring, the most prominent symptom of sleep apnea, as a nasty habit most older uncles are guilty of doing when they sleep. We just simply shrug it off and laugh at them for their silly habit. But we know better now.

One of the largest professional societies focused on sleep issues is moving beyond its original roots.

This week, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) announced that it would expand its mission with a new patient-focused membership group called the American Alliance for Healthy Sleep.

AAHS, a 501(c)(4) organization, will bring together individual patients and healthcare providers and focus on policy, public awareness, and patient support.

Because the organization includes both of these groups, AAHS says it “will be in the unique position to break down barriers to collaboration while facilitating discussion and solutions that address the concerns of both patients and providers together.” 

(Via: https://associationsnow.com/2018/01/sleep-medicine-group-launches-offshoot-focused-patients/)

It is high time the world at large gives importance to sleep and not discredit it anymore. We can only live a healthy and normal life if we get enough sleep at night. Even sleeping during the day could not make up for the many recuperative processes that take places when you snooze at night, so seek help for your sleep woes if you have problems with it because sometimes what you need is medical help. Don’t ever rely on sleeping pills because it is not the best answer to your dilemma. It’s just a temporary patch and should not be abused. It’s not advisable to be taken in the long run especially if you have a diagnosed sleep disorder like sleep apnea because you need something else to address the underlying problem that results to your chronic sleepless state.

If you are undecided yet as to what treatment plan you want to try, you can try something that offers relief and at the same time addresses the major worries in sleep apnea such as anti-snoring mouthpieces. https://snoringmouthpiecereview.org/zquiet and https://snoringmouthpiecereview.org/snorerx are great for starters and they don’t cost a fortune either. You not only put an end to the awful snoring sound but also opens up the airway so you save yourself from the deadly breathing pauses that happens countless times in your slumber.

How Sleep Clinics Help You

People seldom talk about their sleeping habits except when it is has become too much for them to deal with anymore. That’s when they go see a doctor to help them sort things out and feel normal again. Unfortunately, not everything can be solved with just a prescription. Other times, far more effort is required; starting from the assessment before appropriate interventions can be advised. Sleep disorders are among those things you often keep to yourself and only discuss with your attending physician. Aside from being embarrassing, others don’t usually talk about it too so you feel weird exposing your deepest, darkest secrets out in the open.

You don’t have to wander around in search of the best people to help you manage your sleep conditions anymore. Sleep may have been elusive for a while but you’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep once more if you get yourself checked in at a reputable sleep clinic to get to the root of your problem. No need to self-medicate or try a long list of remedies that are said to promote restful sleep like drinking warm milk, listening to relaxing music, or even counting sheep because what you need all along is medical help. So, why visit a sleep clinic? These are specialty hospitals or clinics that focus mainly on sleep-related disorders and issues where patients often have to stay for the night to be assessed properly since symptoms don’t usually manifest during waking hours.

When someone is suspected of suffering from sleep apnea, they’re often sent for a sleep study (also known as polysomnography). This involves their spending the night sleeping at a clinic, with numerous electrodes hard-wired to their head. There are diagnostic devices that they can use at home, although these can also be rather cumbersome. By contrast, the new SomnaPatch is quite simple and – according to the recently-released results of a study – almost as accurate as polysomnography.

Made by Mountain View, California-based startup Somnarus, the SomnaPatch weighs less than an ounce, and consists of a forehead-worn disposable adhesive patch connected to a nosepiece.

Worn while the patient sleeps in their own bed, it uses integrated sensors to measure and record factors such as nasal pressure, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, respiratory effort, sleep duration and changes in body position.

(Via: http://newatlas.com/somnapatch-sleep-apnea/49920/)

These sleep clinics often conduct the same tests but at times may use innovative technologies that are not yet offered in other mainstream clinics. A night spent in a sleep clinic will show the doctors what really happens to your body during your sleep since you are connected with leads that assess your heart rate, eye movements, brain activity, snoring, and other body movements to give them an idea what’s going on in your body during your slumber.

Doctor Irshaad Ebrahim of the Dubai-based London Sleep Centre describes the number of current sleep disorders as “an epidemic”.

“It’s so much more important than what’s being reported in the press: lifestyle, pace of work, demands of technology, screen use – they are harming our sleep/wake cycle.”

The number of sleep clinics in the UAE are on the rise, as are do-it-yourself responses such as sleep treatments at luxury hotels and online apps for managing one’s sleep cycle. “It is a response to demand,” says Ebrahim, “just the number of people seeking help”.

According to Elizabeth Graf, a clinical psychologist at a private clinic in New York, “research continues to show the emotional and physical benefits of sleep”.

Studies have linked lack of sleep to poor performance at work, depression and overall health, including links to cancer. It is not uncommon for studies to speak about the “public health crisis” of lack of sleep, in which billions of dirhams are spent tackling the secondary effects of poor slumber. Others point to its effect on the economy, and even its role in disasters such as the nuclear meltdowns at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

(Via: https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/wellbeing/different-ways-to-tackle-sleep-deprivation-and-remain-healthy-1.15435)

Sleep clinics are helpful in diagnosing sleep disorders because they are equipped with the current technologies used in visualizing and understanding brain activity and everything else that matters in your sleep to find out what could have possibly gone wrong and what can be done about it. However, there are instances when sleep clinics aren’t immediately able to determine your sleep problem. Then, a sleep study may be your next option.

More often than not, sleep apnea is the cause of your misery. If CPAP isn’t something up your alley, you can check with your doctor whether an anti-snoring mouthpiece may work for you. It may not be as effective as CPAP but it’s the next best thing than nothing at all. You can opt for a mouthpiece like this one: https://snoringmouthpiecereview.org/zquiet or a similar device like: https://snoringmouthpiecereview.org/good-morning-snore-solution. Don’t put off going to a sleep clinic… no matter how inconvenient it may initially seem, it is much better than continuously losing sleep from sleep apnea like you do now.