Posted by Noa on September 9, 1999, at 6:40:45
In reply to Re: Sleep Study Help For Noa, posted by Susan on September 9, 1999, at 4:46:54
> Was treatment recommended or did the sleep study only give you knowledge of what was happening during your sleep?
Treatment was definitely recommended for me. Actually, with apnea, it is common to have two sleep studies. In the first, they figure out what is going on. Mine revealed that I stopped breathing 267 times in the six hours I slept in the lab, an average of 42 times per hour. My oxygen saturation level went down significantly as well. The second sleep study is to see if a nasal cpap will help. Cpap is continuous positive airway pressure. Essentially it is a machine that blows air through a tube, and you wear a mask over your nose. The air acts like a "splint" to keep the airway open all night so you can breathe. In the second study, it is a trial to see what pressure of air you need with the cpap. They start at the lowest pressure, and slowly increase until the apnea events stop. The idea is to not give you more air pressure than you need. After the second study, I made arrangements to rent a cpap from a durable medical equipment provider.
For people who have problems other than obstructive apnea, I imagine that other types of treatment are recommended.
poster:Noa
thread:2881
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990829/msgs/11281.html