There are many other reasons why you should get a good night’s rest aside from sleep being essential to your sense of well-being and your everyday functionality.
The effects of sleep disorders can be precursors to life-threatening situations such as heart attacks and strokes. Sleep disorders have also been linked to obesity, high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, heart disease, and depression.
If you are one of the millions of individuals who suffer from an undiagnosed sleep disorder, you may require extra help to enable you to sleep through the night. Fortunately, Barnwell County Hospital’s Sleep Center can help you and your physician determine what sleep disorder you may be experiencing and provide assistance and treatment.
The benefits of a sleep study and a successful treatment are numerous.
- A more restorative sleep
- Feeling more awake with less daytime fatigue and drowsiness
- An improved mental well-being with less irritability, fewer mood swings, and less depression
- Less chance of heart disease and heart failure
- Diabetes control
- Fewer headaches
- Curbs erectile dysfunction
- Less occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- Fewer complications during surgery while under general anesthetic
- Reduces chance of misdiagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children
- Reduces the risk of car accidents
- Lowers blood pressure
Do you need a sleep study?
- Do you snore?
- Feel sluggish or excessively tired during the day?
- Have you ever been told you stop breathing during sleeping?
- Do you have a history of high blood pressure?
- Are you overweight?
If you answered “yes” to three or more of these questions, you might have a sleep disorder. Around 40 million people in the United States suffer from sleep problems and disorders. If you are one of them, Barnwell County Hospital’s state-of-the art Sleep Center can diagnose the trouble and put your sleep problems to rest once and for all.
About 18 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea and it’s the most common sleeping disorder and as many as 90 percent of the cases remain untreated.
The profile of the typical apnea patient is an overweight, middle aged adult, between the ages of 35-55; who snores loudly, complains of being tired during the day and has a 17.5 neck size or greater. Sleep apnea is when you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep.
Symptoms:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Loud snoring
- Gasping or choking awakening
- Awakening for uncertain reason
- Restless sleep
- Poor memory and intellectual functions
- Irritability
- Morning headaches
- Confusion
- Restless legs
Professional Evaluations
Dr. R. Babu Mummaneni — a neurologist and sleep medicine specialist – is on hand to speak with you for consultation. Dr. Mummaneni is dedicated to the study of the causes, consequences, and treatments for sleep disorders and he did his fellowship in sleep medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.
An evaluation with Dr. Mummaneni determines if a sleep study is needed. We can provide you with a sleep disorder assessment form and other educational tools to help determine if you suffer from a sleep disorder.
Comfortable Surroundings
A sleep study involves the analysis of your body’s sleep patterns. If you need a sleep study at BCH, it is done in a private room in tranquil settings and lush, comfortable beds to make you feel like you are in the comfort of your own home. You control the firmness and softness of the mattress. Our sleep labs also contain a reclining chair if you sleep sitting up.
An experienced sleep disorder technologist will accompany you through the entire process. The technologist will place electrodes on the scalp, face, chest and legs to monitor brain waves, eye movement, respiration, heart rate and rhythm, and muscle activity. There are no injections, needles, drugs or x-rays associated with a sleep study. You will not experience any pain during this procedure. The results will be interpreted and a report sent to your physician within five days of completion of your study.
After a sleep study is done to determine the cause of your sleep disorder, Dr. Mummaneni will work directly with you and your physician to develop a customized treatment plan. Your physician, based upon the outcome of your sleep study, will prescribe treatment for sleep disorders. Treatments range from airway pressure devices, medications, life style changes, weight loss, ENT surgery or laser therapy, dental appliances, light therapy, and internal body clock adjustments.
Sleep disorders can be divided into five categories:
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Sleep apnea is when a person stops and starts breathing for periods while sleeping;
- Insomnia is when a person has trouble falling or staying asleep;
- Hypersomnolence is when a person gets too much sleep;
- Parasomnia is performing activities while sleeping such as walking;
- Restless leg syndrome is when a person has muscle twitches in the legs that disturbs sleep.
At the BCH Sleep Center, we treat apnea and other sleep problems leading to positive patient outcomes.
For more information on sleep studies call 259-1000 Ex. 8044