A home sleep study can help you rest easier.
written by christy perry tuohey
do you usually get eight solid hours of sleep? If not, or if you’re waking up feeling tired or irritated rather than rested and refreshed, it may be time to tell your doctor. According to recent statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 40% of West Virginia adults do not get adequate sleep.
Sleep quality problems can be connected to more serious health concerns, like heart disease and diabetes. There are a number of sleep clinics in the Mountain State, including WVU Medicine’s sleep evaluation centers in Morgantown, Fairmont, and Parkersburg, where you can be monitored to determine whether you have a sleep disorder. However, if drifting off anywhere other than in your own bed is a problem, at least one West Virginia hospital offers a diagnostic sleep test that can be done at home.
Monica Crites, director of the Respiratory Therapy Department at Grant Memorial Hospital, oversees a home sleep study program in Petersburg. Thanks to advanced medical technology, patients can use a small portable device to record their vital signs in the comfort of their own bedrooms. “We can now send you home with a little box, and it has a little nose piece and probe or connector for your finger to monitor different things while you sleep at home,” Crites explains.
The home sleep monitor uses the same type of AAA batteries as your flashlight or TV remote. When the device is returned to the hospital, it’s plugged into a desktop computer, and your data is downloaded into a sleep diagnostic software program. With that information, a physician can determine whether a person is suffering from a sleep disorder. The most common ones they see at Grant are central or obstructive sleep disorders, Crites says. Central sleep disorders stem from the brain’s inability to signal the lungs to breathe properly. Obstructive sleep disorders can be caused by oversized anatomy, such as large tonsils or tongue, or neck heaviness.
Overweight patients can also be susceptible. “When a doctor sends someone in, and they qualify for sleep apnea and they’re really heavy, sometimes they’ll qualify for GLP 1 therapy”—glucagon-like peptide-1, a hormone that regulates blood sugar—“to get their weight down,” she says.
Some sleep apnea studies are still done in sleep labs, and some patients will need that type of diagnosis. The common treatment for apneas is a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device, or CPAP, which provides air through a mask during sleep. A doctor can order either type of sleep test for a patient, and the results are typically interpreted by a pulmonologist.
For more information, call Grant Memorial Hospital at 304.257.1026.
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