Pacific Sleep Labs

Pacific Sleep Lab - Physicians Referral

Thank you for considering our sleep program.

Sleep disorder is one of the most under recognized and under treated field of medicine. This is presently undergoing a change. Sleep disorder, such as obstructive sleep apnea, is one of the most treatable conditions in medicine. In fact this is now recognized as reversible cause of hypertension and heart disease.

Following are conditions that have been related to sleep disorder:

Hypertension and hypertensive heart disease
Strokes
Insulin resistance
Chronic fatigue
Mood disorders

When considering a referral always start with consultation rather than sleep study.

Like any other disease entity, History and Physical is the cornerstone of sleep evaluation. For example, if the patient is unlikely to have sleep apnea, doing a sleep study can actually create a more confusing picture.

Many sleep disorders have more than one issue that need to be treated. For example it is not unusual for patients with obstructive sleep apnea to have sleep related anxiety and poor sleep habits. There may also be marital issues that may have evolved. All these issues need to be addressed for successful outcome.

COMMON REASONS FOR SLEEP EVALUATION

Excessive daytime sleepiness. This includes various causes of sleepiness, which includes insufficient sleep syndrome, poor sleep hygiene, narcolepsy and obstructive sleep apnea.

Insomnia. usually this is a clinical diagnosis and polysomnography is not indicated.

Any kind of movement disorder during sleep. This includes various forms of parasomnias, REM-related behavioral disorder and seizure disorder.

Evaluation for causes of excessive fatigue. Sometimes sleepiness and fatigue are terms used interchangeably. Another cause of fatigue is seen in patients with fibromyalgia. These patients tend to have a peculiar EEG pattern, known as alpha delta pattern. This has been associated with unrefreshing sleep and some have suggested that these may be a form of upper airways resistance syndrome.

POLYSOMNOGRAPHY

Sleep study involves measurement of various physiological changes that occur with sleep.

To stage sleep, we look at EEG pattern, muscle tone and eye movements. This will tell us whether the patient is in light sleep, deep sleep or REM.

Other physiologic patterns we evaluate are breathing sound, airflow, chest and abdominal movement and oxygen saturation. These parameters are gathered to assess for breathing during sleep.

Other measurements we evaluate are EKG as well as body position. Depending upon the indication for the study, various physiologic parameters can be enhanced for a more focused study.

Click here for Physicians Referral form