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| Overnight Sleep Study | This study has the second, so to say “medical” name – polysomnogram. It may be conducted either in the doctor’s office or in the sleep center. This procedure is usually applied in the cases, when there is the necessity to:
Look for sleep – related breathing disorders, for example sleep apnea;
Set the correct levels of continuous positive airway pressure in patients, who suffer from sleep related breathing disorders;
Go along with a daytime nap study in order to see if someone suffers from narcolepsy;
Look for some specific behaviors during sleep, which can either be violent or could be harmful to the patient or people, surrounding him.
As a rule a person is asked to come in the evening, and he or she will have some time to be able to make himself or herself at home in the bedroom. There is nobody in the room except the patient, and even the doctor gets out for some time to make the patient relaxed. Person’s brain waves, heart beat as well as breathing are being charted as he or she sleeps. All eye and leg movements along with other muscle tension are also recorded. The very procedure is conducted after sensors, which send tiny electrical signals to a computer, being placed on a person’s head, face, chest and legs. It should be pointed out, however, that a patient does not feel any pain or other feeling of discomfort, as the sensors are placed on the person’s skin in a gentle way, after that they are connected to a computer. All the wires are quite long, and they let the patient turn over in bed and even more around, in addition, a person is asked to more his eyes, clench his teeth and move his legs in order a doctor would be able to make sure that the sensors are working.
Everyone can read a book or watch TV until his or her normal bedtime. When it is time to go to bed, the lights are turned out and a patient should try to fall asleep. The technologist can look after the patient from a nearby room with the help of a low – light video camera. As soon as a sensor comes loose, the technician is to enter the room. In addition, all the wires are detached in case if a patient has to go to the bathroom during the night. With the help of the signals it is possible to see when the patient is asleep and when he or she is awake during the night time. In addition, the brain – wave as well as the eye – movement detectors show when the patient is in REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep – one of the sleep stages, during which the person’s eyes and his brain waves are extremely active. In addition, it is the stage of sleep, when everyone has most of his dreams.
There are also the breathing monitors, which show how many times a patient stops breathing. These monitors are also able to detect low air flow and the least changes in oxygen level.
The sensors, which are attached to the patient’s legs, show minor twitches as well as major movements, which take place during the night.
When the polysomnogram procedure is conducted, a clip is also placed on the patient’s finger in order to determine all the minor changes in the level of oxygen in the blood. This clip monitors the color of the blood, because when there becomes less oxygen in the blood, it turns from red to blue.
It should be noted, however, that the polysomnogram does not belong to the tests, which can be failed. Almost everyone falls asleep during this overnight sleep study. However, if a person suffers from insomnia, then he or she may not sleep as well as at home, therefore this will not influence the results in any way, simply because there is no need to sleep for a full eight hours to find the source of the problem.
As the morning comes the patient will test the sensors again, after which they are removed. This will be the end of the study, and a person is free to go home, however, it is possible that someone, who did not sleep well during the night, may feel tired; if no, it is possible to get busy with all normal activities on the day after a sleep study was conducted.
It should be pointed out that a technologist is the first person to look over the data from every conducted sleep study. At the beginning he or she charts the patient’s sleep stages, after that looks for any events of abnormal breathing or leg movement. All the results are given to a doctor, who reviews the study with the aim to find out what kind of sleep problem a person suffers from.
As a rule about two weeks are necessary to come when the results of a sleep study can be obtained. However, there are cases, when the doctor, who looks at the study, has to have some additional information about some person, then he or she talks to the technologist or to the doctor, who sent this patient to the sleep center.
Finally, the doctor, who ordered the sleep study, discusses the results of this investigation with the patient. In case if these results were ordered by the patient’s primary care doctor, then the results are sent to him or her, therefore, if a person met with a doctor in the sleep center, then it is this doctor, who is to tell all the results to a patient.
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