Can a Sleep Study Save Your Life?
The best ENT in Houston would be the first to tell you how important getting a full night’s sleep can be for your body.
We spend about one-third of our lives asleep, yet sleep is one of the least understood areas in medicine. Countless medical studies conducted across the world have tried to crack the mystery.
Sleep Deprivation
Millions of Americans are sleep deprived, the result of busy schedules or untreated medical conditions. Sleep studies help in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. A sleep study involves overnight monitoring of every aspect of your health while you sleep.
While these studies have typically been done in a special facility, recent advancements in monitoring technology allow many patients to complete these tests in the comfort of their own bedrooms. The results provide complex data, score sleep quality and give your Houston doctor a roadmap showing how to best improve your quality of sleep.
Sleep Studies Diagnose Sleep Disorders
Sleep studies can help diagnose breathing related sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. They can also diagnose sleep related seizure and movement disorders. Serious conditions like these cause problems that can deeply impact your health and, in some cases, prove fatal.
Most people are unaware they have breathing or movement issues and are oblivious of their quality of sleep. However, good sleep is an essential component to reducing high blood pressure and the likelihood of serious health complications such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
Once your Houston doctor has confirmed what is causing your sleep issues, they can create a treatment plan. Sleep apnea is treated with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), which keeps your airway open and prevents interruptions in breathing. Sleep related seizures are usually treated with medication.
If you feel tired during the day, wake up frequently during the night and have trouble falling or staying asleep you should speak with your Houston doctor about the possible benefits of a sleep study.
