Sleep studies are tests that highlight how you sleep and how your body deals with sleep issues you might have. If you go through a sleep study, the results can help your doctor figure out if you have a sleeping disorder and what to do about it.
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Sleep is an important part of overall physical health. Untreated sleep disorders can be dangerous because they can raise your risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and many other medical conditions. There are obvious side effects to sleep disorders as well, such as an increased risk of injury due exhaustion.
Generally speaking, you aren’t aware of how you move or breathe when you sleep so you wouldn’t be able to describe certain conditions and symptoms to your doctor. But the good news is, once you do a sleep study, if you have a sleep disorder, it can be treated. If you feel tired on a regular basis, it is worth mentioning to your doctor. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, you might also have a sleep disorder.
Sleep studies help diagnose a number of sleep-related issues, such as breathing disorders like sleep apnea, seizures that occur when sleeping, movement disorders, and disorders that cause extreme daytime tiredness.
Doctors often use sleep studies to rule out certain ailments before moving on to other treatments. If you have to do a sleep study, you may not actually have a sleeping disorder, but your doctor may want to rule that out as a cause for your medical issues before moving on to another diagnosis.
Before you do a sleep study, your doctor will take a medical history and a physical exam. You will be fitted with sticky patches that have sensors on them so they can record a number of items like your brain activity, heart rhythm, blood pressure, and more. The sensors are designed not to disrupt your movement so you can sleep as you normally would.
Sleep studies are painless, but not always comfortable. However, they can give your doctor a wealth of information about your medical ailments, and they are worth your time and effort if you happen to have a sleeping disorder that can easily be remedied.
