FREE FROM SNORING

Were you told that you snore loudly at night? Do you wake up in the middle of the night, and still feel worn-out the next day because of your lack of sleep?  Do you think you have sleep apnea but you’re not entirely sure about it?

Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder sleep that interrupts with a person’s breathing while he is asleep, by blocking the smooth airways in the lungs.  Some probable causes of sleep apnea are obesity, smoking, nasal congestion, or a history in the family.  Symptoms could be loud snoring, sudden awakenings at night and daytime drowsiness and sleepiness.

If you have the symptoms stated above, but are not sure whether its sleep apnea or a different sleeping disorder, then maybe it’s time that you undergo a test called polysomnography (PSG).  It is the most commonly used test to diagnose sleep apnea.  It determines how severe the illness is, and assesses other sleeping disorders than comes with or without sleep apnea.

The procedure involves a simultaneous recording of multiple physiologic parameters that is related to sleep and wakefulness.  To fully determine if the sleeping disorder is sleep apnea, PSG goes through three different studies: electroencephalography (EEG) is used to identify sleep stage, latency and arousals;   electrooculography (EOG) is used to monitor eye movement – rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow eye movement that accompanies the onset of sleep; the surface electromyography (EMG) records atonia or sleep paralysis in patients.  Other factors that can be monitored by PSG include nasal and/or oral airflow, sound recordings to measure snoring, continuous video monitoring of body positions, and core body temperature.

One night under PSG is usually enough to find out if the patient has sleep apnea and the degree of the sleeping disorder, but sometimes, sporadic events can not be explained by an overnight result; therefore, a multiple sleep latency testing (MSLT) should be performed the next day.